Where did the serious allegations against the civil servants come from?
The first recorded allegations being made against the civil servants in the context of the Moriarty Tribunal’s inquiries into the awarding of the second mobile phone licence are contained in an attendance note of the Tribunal on Mr. Tony Boyle of Persona dated 1 May 2001.
The Moriarty Tribunal met with Mr. Boyle during its private investigative stage on a number of occasions. During these meetings, Mr. Boyle made a number of serious allegations against numerous parties involved in the second mobile phone licence competition process. During the meeting on 1 May 2001, Mr. Boyle is recorded by the Solicitor for the Moriarty Tribunal stating as follows:
“As far as Tony Boyle is concerned, the reality of the situation is that strings were pulled by Loughrey, Brennan and Towey. They constructed the criteria, the weighting and effectively had Andersen’s rubber stamp them...”
A full copy of the attendance note of 1 May 2001 can be accessed via the link below:
Mr. Boyle gave evidence to the Tribunal in public some years later, but was unable to provide any material substantiating the claims that he had made against the civil servants and others during his meetings with the Tribunal’s legal team.
Present at that private meeting on 1 May 2001 was Jerry Healy SC; former senior adviser to the Persona consortium. Further details regarding the relationship between the Moriarty Tribunal and Persona can be found at the relevant section of this site.
On Day 190 of the Tribunal’s Public Sittings (26 February 2003), Senior Counsel to Telenor (the Norwegian State owned Telecoms Company) Eoghan Fitzsimons SC, commented as follows:
“Now, Sir as I say, I have no doubt that both Mr. Healy and Mr. Coughlan believe that they are engaging in an inquiry, but the fact of the matters is, that they have put propositions to witnesses relating to alleged—they have alleged defects in the process to witnesses, which is putting a case, and that case will be the same case we can anticipate that Persona will make against the State in the High Court when that claim ultimately comes on to hearing……we have sat through what has happened here, listened to it, observed it and we are experienced Counsel, and what has happened is that a case has been made against the integrity of the process, and civil servants have been attacked, both openly and by implication in relation to the manner in which they have conducted their duties. And most unfairly, in my submission in some instances…”
Mr. Fitzsimons (a former Irish Attorney General) was emphatically supported in this submission by Eoin McGonigal SC (on behalf of Denis O’Brien) and by Bill Shipsey SC (on behalf of International Investment and Underwriting Limited). The relevant extract from the Transcript of Day 190 can be accessed via the link below.
