Moriarty Tribunal
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The Moriarty Tribunal, officially called the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, was an Irish
Tribunal of Inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...
established in 1997 into the financial affairs of politicians
Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...
and
Michael Lowry Michael Lowry (born 13 March 1953) is an Irish Independent politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) since 1987, currently for the Tipperary constituency. He previously served as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications from 1 ...
. It has revealed significant
tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...
by these and other politicians and leading businessmen. As a consequence, the tax authorities have recovered millions of euro in settlements and penalties from many individuals. The final report of the tribunal was expected to be published in mid-January 2010, but was delayed and was published 22 March 2011.


Background

As a result of change of management in
Dunnes Stores Dunnes Stores is an Irish multinational retail chain that primarily sells food, clothes and household wares. In addition to its main customer base in Ireland, the chain also has operations in Spain, and formerly in England and Scotland. The fo ...
, a leading retail group in Ireland, it was revealed in the press that
Ben Dunne Bernard Dunne (19 May 1908 – 14 April 1983) was an Irish businessman who was the founder and chairman of Dunnes Stores. Early life Ben Dunne was born as Bernard Dunn in the village of Rostrevor in County Down, Ireland in 1908. He a was the el ...
had made substantial secret payments to the former
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...
and Minister
Michael Lowry Michael Lowry (born 13 March 1953) is an Irish Independent politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) since 1987, currently for the Tipperary constituency. He previously served as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications from 1 ...
. In response the Bruton Government established The McCracken Inquiry in 1997 to investigate. The inquiry reported in late 1997 and confirmed the facts and revealed monies in secret Ansbacher accounts owned by Haughey for which it could not determine the source.


Establishment

In response to the ''McCracken Report'', the new Ahern Government issued terms of reference for a new follow-up tribunal on 26 September 1997. The sole member of the Tribunal is the Honourable Mr Justice
Michael Moriarty Michael Moriarty (born April 5, 1941) is an American-Canadian actor and jazz musician. He received an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for his first acting role on American television as a Nazi SS officer in the 1978 mini-series ''Holocaust'' ...
, leading to the name Moriarty Tribunal. The terms were inquiry into ''(inter alia)'': *whether substantial payments which might not have been ethical to receive were made to
Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...
(
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
during part of the time concerned) and
Michael Lowry Michael Lowry (born 13 March 1953) is an Irish Independent politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) since 1987, currently for the Tipperary constituency. He previously served as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications from 1 ...
between 1 January 1979 and 31 December 1996, *the source of those payments, *whether payments were made to people holding public office, *whether Mr Haughey made any decisions benefiting a person making such a payment, *the source of money in various bank accounts in Ireland, the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
, and the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...
, *whether the Republic's tax authorities were properly and timely informed of the existence of various payments and gifts to Messrs. Haughey and Lowry. The preliminary repor

into the Haughey payments was published on 19 December 2006. The final reports were published in 201

,


Costs and delays

The Tribunal sat for the first time on 31 October 1997 and heard its first witness on 28 January 1999. By September 2004, the Tribunal had sat on 286 days but sittings were suspended pending a High Court of the Republic of Ireland, High Court hearing in which mobile phone entrepreneur
Denis O'Brien Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for a period of several ye ...
tried unsuccessfully to prevent the tribunal from investigating Michael Lowry's involvement in his purchase of
Doncaster Rovers F.C. Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
The tribunal ended up lasting much longer than anticipated and cost the state millions in direct costs and legal assistance to witnesses, something that has been criticised by the people whom the tribunal investigated. In March 2010, it was estimated the tribunal had cost the state approximately €39 million, with final costs expected to exceed €100 million.The cost of the Moriarty mistakes
Colm Keena ''Irish Times'' 27 March 2010


Volume I

* Dunne payments to Haughey * Use of accounts in Ansbacher by Haughey * Management of Haughey's financial affairs by
Des Traynor Des Traynor (3 June 1931 - 11 May 1994) was an Irish banker, financier and accountant known for his dealings with Charles Haughey and his involvement in the " Ansbacher Affair". He became known as "Charlie's Bag Man". Early life and family D ...
* Sale of Glen Ding Woods to
CRH plc CRH may refer to: * Calibre radius head, a traditional British ordnance term for a concept in ballistic projectile design * Celtic Resources Holdings, an Irish mining company * China Railway High-speed, a high-speed railway service operated by Ch ...
* Management of donations for a
liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a Liver disease, diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for Cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease and ...
for Brian Lenihan


2006 Findings

* Confirmation of facts regarding payments by Dunne to Haughey and Lowry * Confirmation of use of the Ansbacher accounts by Haughey * Mr. Haughey had obstructed the tribunal * Tax avoidance findings * Mr. Haughey stole a "sizeable proportion" from the Brian Lenihan medical fund and took steps to conceal his actions * Claims that Mr. Haughey knew little about his own personal finances were rejected * Charles Haughey accepted cash in return for favours throughout his political career.


Consequences

* Investigations of Mr Haughey and Mr Lowry for tax evasion by the Revenue Commissioners. Settlements by both * Advance sale and leaseback of his home, Abbeville, by Mr Haughey * Revelations of use of the Ansbacher accounts by other businessmen and politicians for tax avoidance. An interim report on the lead to an investigation by the Department of Trade and Enterprise which named the holders, and led to
Denis Foley Denis Foley (14 May 1934 – 26 October 2013) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North constituency from 1981 to 1989 and 1992 to 2002 and a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from ...
TD leaving Fianna Fáil. The Caymen island scandal which was investigated by the Moriarty tribunal involved Guinness and Mahon bank and has not yielded a single prosecution, as of March 2013, because of a lack of "original documentation. However, the Revenue Commissioner documents state that as of the end of 2013 a "total yield" of €112.69m has been obtained from 141 Ansbacher account cases. This is made up of €50.1m in tax paid and €62.59m in penalties". * Related press investigations on corruption, such as that on
Beverley Flynn Beverley Flynn (born 9 June 1966) is an Irish retired Fianna Fáil politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Mayo constituency from 1997 to 2011. Early life and political career She is the daughter of the former Fianna Fáil minister and ...
TD * Related investigations by the Dáil Public Accounts committee on the use of foreign accounts for tax evasion, leading to settlements by the banks, and thousands of individuals.


Volume II


Awarding of the second mobile phone licence

The circumstances surrounding the awarding of the second
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
mobile phone licence to the
Esat Digifone Telefónica Ireland was a internet access, broadband and telecommunications provider in Republic of Ireland, Ireland that traded under the O2 (brand), O2 brand (typeset as O2). O2 Ireland was previously called Esat Digifone when it was owned by ...
consortium in 1996 (the biggest contract ever awarded by the State to a private company) by the Rainbow Coalition government was the focus of the work of the tribunal from 2007. The tribunal investigated whether money changed hands prior to the awarding of the licence to Esat Digifone by former Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications Michael Lowry TD. Denis O'Brien claimed preliminary findings by the tribunal effectively state that the Esat consortium was "illegally" issued with the state's second mobile-phone licence because he had a "corrupt" relationship with Michael Lowry. A number of failed bidders are suing the state over the handling of the competition process.


Esat Digifone

In 1995, Esat Digifone was a consortium made up of
Denis O'Brien Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for a period of several ye ...
's
Communicorp Bauer Media Audio Ireland (formerly Communicorp Group) is a media holding company based in Ireland, owned by Bauer Media Group. History Communicorp Group Ltd was formed by Denis O'Brien in 1989. It launched its radio operations in Ireland that ...
(40%), Telenor AB (40%) and the remaining 20% held by institutional shareholders. Esat Digifone won the 1995 competition process and entered into exclusive negotiations with the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications.


=Exclusive negotiations and new shareholding by Dermot Desmond

= It transpired that during the contracting period a change in the shareholding in Esat Digifone had occurred with financier
Dermot Desmond Dermot Desmond (born 14 August 1950) is an Irish businessman and financier. He is estimated to be worth €2.04 billion and is ranked by the ''Sunday Independent'' as the ninth-richest person in Ireland. Early life and education Desmond was b ...
's IIU Nominees taking a share of 25% of the company and
Communicorp Bauer Media Audio Ireland (formerly Communicorp Group) is a media holding company based in Ireland, owned by Bauer Media Group. History Communicorp Group Ltd was formed by Denis O'Brien in 1989. It launched its radio operations in Ireland that ...
and Telenor AB holding the remainder between them. The Department of Communications decided that the 25% holding by IIU Ltd. was unacceptable in May 1996 and demanded a return to the 40-40-20 structure, but this information was not communicated to the Attorney-General's office at the time. The department and Lowry demanded that the 40:40:20 breakdown of the shares in Esat should be restored prior to the issuing of the licence, which resulted in Desmond selling part of his shareholding to Communicorp and Telenor. The licence was awarded to Digifone in May 1996, with Lowry announcing Digifone the winner before civil servants involved in judging the competition made their final decision.


=Legal opinion of Richard Nesbitt SC

= In May 1996, the Attorney-General's office sought the advice of barrister Richard Nesbitt regarding the change in shareholding. Nesbitt advised the government that the licence could be awarded regardless of the fact that Dermot Desmond had joined the consortium at a later date. The advice of Nesbitt as recalled by Denis McFadden – a barrister in the A-G's office – was to the effect that IIU's entry was not a material change and merely amounted to "equity finance".


=Moriarty's findings

= In February 2008, Judge Moriarty gave a legal finding that the written advice given by Richard Nesbitt in 1996 to the Attorney General's office did not cover what is known as "the ownership issue". This finding followed a private meeting of tribunal counsel in October 2002 recalled by Denis McFadden BL and attended by, amongst others, John Gormley BL and Richard Nesbitt SC, Jerry Healy SC for the tribunal described Nesbitt's advice to the government as "shite". Following the addition of new evidence, Judge Moriarty conceded that the advice of Richard Nesbitt did cover the acquisition of a 25% shareholding by IIU and that he would reappraise his interim findings that it did not. Judge Moriarty admitted to making "not insignificant mistakes" in regards to the license issue which would have to be "taken on the chin and acknowledged".


Statements by key participants

A media war broke out in early 2010 over the preliminary findings of the tribunal with Denis O'Brien, Michael Lowry TD and Judge Moriarty each making statements about the process.


= O'Brien Statement

= Denis O'Brien sent a letter to the chairman of the tribunal Judge Moriarty alleging that the tribunal's "activities really reaches a new low in Irish judicial history" and was "totally biased"O'Brien letter to Moriarty called tribunal 'totally biased'
Colm Keena ''Irish Times'' 19 March 2009
O'Brien has claimed that the tribunal had set out to "get his scalp", but "must now admit they were wrong" Denis O'Brien established the websit
MoriartyTribunal.com
on 16 October 2009. The site was created by the O'Brien team to present his perspective on the work of the Moriarty Tribunal


=Lowry statement

= In January 2010 Michael Lowry TD issued a 3,400-word statement
available here
outlining his perspective on the tribunal. Lowry's claims relate principally to the involvement of financier
Dermot Desmond Dermot Desmond (born 14 August 1950) is an Irish businessman and financier. He is estimated to be worth €2.04 billion and is ranked by the ''Sunday Independent'' as the ninth-richest person in Ireland. Early life and education Desmond was b ...
as a 20 per cent shareholder in the Esat Digifone consortium and outlining that it was not possible for him to meddle in the process or direct a result without the collusion of civil servants. Lowry has also criticised the tribunal in the Dáil, pointing out the high costs and delay involved.


=Moriarty Statement

= Judge Moriarty has said his report will be "founded unequivocally on evidence" and not on speculation and working hypotheses and that he was not "trying to cobble together a report that will unjustly condemn" people on "flimsy evidence". He was mystified as to why this "unthinkable suggestion" should be made concerning someone who had been appointed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. He had learned as a judge to be "big enough and humble enough to correct errors" but he was not saying errors had been made and important matters remained to be canvassed in evidence. Judge Moriarty also hit back at the media campaign against the tribunal claiming he was "not going to be distracted by the prevalence of spin, and other controversies...that would not be welcomed by the courts."


2011 Findings


Conclusions

*Lowry "secured the winning" of the 1995 mobile licence for O'Brien. *O'Brien made two payments to Lowry in 1996 and 1999 totalling IR£500,000 (GB£147,000 and GB£300,000) and supported a loan of GB£420,000 given to Lowry in 1999, a benefit equivalent to a payment. *Lowry imparted substantive information to O'Brien which was "of significant value and assistance to him in securing the licence". *Lowry bypassed consideration by his Cabinet colleagues and thereby not only influenced, but delivered the result for
Esat Digifone Telefónica Ireland was a internet access, broadband and telecommunications provider in Republic of Ireland, Ireland that traded under the O2 (brand), O2 brand (typeset as O2). O2 Ireland was previously called Esat Digifone when it was owned by ...
. * A US$50,000 donation to
Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil à ...
was made through
Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...
on behalf of
Esat Digifone Telefónica Ireland was a internet access, broadband and telecommunications provider in Republic of Ireland, Ireland that traded under the O2 (brand), O2 brand (typeset as O2). O2 Ireland was previously called Esat Digifone when it was owned by ...
. *Lowry sought to influence a hike in the lease for Marlborough House (
Telecom Éireann Telecom Éireann (; meaning "Telecommunications of Ireland") was an Irish state-owned telecommunications company that operated from 1983 to 1999. Prior to then a telephone and postal service was provided by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs ...
headquarters) following a request from Mr Dunne. These rent increases would have improperly enriched Dunne, and were deemed to be "profoundly corrupt". *Lowry was criticised for his "cynical and venal abuse of office" and his brazen refusal to acknowledge the impropriety of his financial arrangements with O'Brien and Dunne.


Recommendations

*Greater precautions ought to have been taken to segregate those conducting the evaluation of the mobile phone licence bids from their political master. *All donations to politicians or political parties should be reported to the SIPO (Standards in Public Office) Commission. *All recommendations by public office holders to the Revenue Commissioners be in writing.


Criminal investigation

Following the publication of the final report of the tribunal copies were sent to the Revenue Commissioners, the Garda Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions. A team of detectives, led by the
Criminal Assets Bureau The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) ( ga, An Biúró um Shócmhainní Coiriúla) is a law enforcement agency in Ireland. The CAB was established with powers to focus on the illegally acquired assets of criminals involved in serious crime. The aims ...
(CAB) chief, DCS Eugene Corcoran, investigated if the report could identify any criminal wrongdoing that could be then investigated.Garda chief to consult DPP over Moriarty findings
Tom Brady ''Irish Independent'' 4 October 2011


See also

*
Mahon Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of c ...
*
Public inquiries in the Republic of Ireland In Ireland, there are several kinds of public inquiry. A Tribunal of Inquiry, often simply called a tribunal, is a powerful type of statutory inquiry whose procedures are governed by the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 as amended.Citizens ...
*
McCracken Tribunal Brian Moore McCracken (born 13 July 1934) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2002 to 2006 and a Judge of the High Court from 1995 to 2002. He is an officer of Trinity College, Dublin – ''Visitor of the Col ...
*
Beef Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into the Beef Processing Industry, also known as the Beef Tribunal, was established on 31 May 1991, chaired by Mr. Justice Liam Hamilton. It was set up to inquire into malpractice in the Irish beef processing industry, m ...


References

{{reflist, 2


External links


Tribunal reports


Final Report Part I (2006) PDF


Other links


Moriarty Tribunal websiteDenis O'Brien's Tribunal website
1997 establishments in Ireland 2011 disestablishments in Ireland Charles Haughey Michael Lowry History of Fianna Fáil History of Fine Gael Politics of the Republic of Ireland Public inquiries in Ireland Judicial inquiries