The letters [given to The Irish Times], written by Mr Vaughan, were different to copies of the letters that had been given to the tribunal

The Moriarty tribunal has announced it is going to review evidence it has already heard in relation to five transactions in the light of letters indicating it may have been misled.

The transactions all involve possible or suspected financial links between Mr Denis O'Brien and Mr Michael Lowry. In October 1995, Mr Lowry announced that Esat Digifone, of which Mr O'Brien was a founder director, had won the State's second mobile phone licence competition. In May 1996, the licence was formally awarded.

Below is a summary of transactions now to be reviewed by the Moriarty tribunal.

December 1995: $50,000 (€50,787) intended for Fine Gael is sent to the Jersey bank account of the late David Austin, for onward transmission to Fine Gael. The money came from Norwegian company Telenor, a major shareholder in Esat Digifone. The latter subsequently reimbursed Telenor.

July/October 1996: £150,000 (€190,000) is sent from a Denis O'Brien account in the Isle of Man (opened in the name of his accountant Mr Aidan Phelan) to Mr Austin's account in Jersey. Mr O'Brien has told the tribunal this June 1996 transfer was a payment for a house in Spain.

Unfortunately for Mr O'Brien, no legal documentation registering the transfer of the house was created at the time. No solicitors were involved in the sale.

Most of the money - £147,000 - was forwarded to an Isle of Man account belonging to Mr Lowry in October. Mr Lowry has said the money was to be used by him in relation to a new house he'd bought on Carysfort Ave, Blackrock, Co Dublin.

After he resigned from government in late 1996, he decided to sell the house.

On February 7th, 1997, the date the McCracken (Dunnes Payments) tribunal was established, he returned the money to Mr Austin.

Mr Lowry told the tribunal the payment from Mr Austin, who was a friend of his, was a loan.

He has rejected suggestions that a handwritten note dated October 1995, signed by Mr Lowry and Mr Austin and outlining the conditions for the loan, might have been drafted after Mr Lowry had resigned from government and decided to give the money back to Mr Austin.

"You are attempting to weave a web of intrigue that simply does not exist," he said.

September 1988: Denis O'Brien sent $295,250 to New York stockbroking firm Credit Suisse DLJ, where it was used to buy Esat Telecom shares for Mr Austin. Mr Austin was a close friend of Mr O'Brien and Mr O'Brien's family. The shares were moved from the account soon after Mr Austin's death in November 1998.

The shares were moved to the account of Mr Noel Walshe, Mr O'Brien's father-in-law. The allocation to Mr Austin's account was a mistake, Mr O'Brien has said.

Mr Peter Muldowney, the stockbroker who handled the matter, would not attend the tribunal when asked last year.

December 1998/March 1999: Mr Lowry pays a deposit of £25,000 sterling (€39,695) on a site in Mansfield, England. The balance to close the deal - £230,000 sterling - comes from £300,000 sterling transferred to the client account of English solicitor Mr Christopher Vaughan. The money originated in a London account belonging to Mr O'Brien.

Mr O'Brien's accountant, Mr Aidan Phelan, has told the tribunal the money was owed to him by Mr O'Brien. Mr O'Brien has agreed with this.

Mr Phelan was buying the property in partnership with Mr Lowry, both men have said. Mr O'Brien has said he knew nothing of the matter at the time.

The property is still owned, 90/10, by Mr Phelan and Mr Lowry. The property has been listed in Mr Lowry's name up to recently. It is now listed in Mr Phelan's name.

September/December 1999: In September 1999, Mr Lowry used the remainder of the money sitting in Mr Vaughan's client account to put a £44,500 sterling deposit on a property in Cheadle that he wanted to buy.

Mr Phelan subsequently helped Mr Lowry get a £420,000 sterling loan from GE Capital Woodchester to complete the deal. Some members of the bank thought Mr O'Brien was backing this loan. Mr O'Brien has said he knew nothing of the matter. The loan and the property have now been taken over by Mr Phelan.

Earlier this year, while researching these matters, The Irish Times was given copies of two letters concerning this deal. The letters, written by Mr Vaughan, were different to copies of the letters that had earlier been given to the tribunal by Mr Vaughan. Mr Vaughan had said the copies he supplied were from his files. The differences between the two sets of letters had the effect of obscuring Mr Lowry's involvement in the deal.

Mr Lowry has said he knows nothing of the matter and that he never instructed Mr Vaughan to write differing versions of the letters.Mr Vaughan has refused to attend to give evidence but has told Mr Lowry's Dublin solicitors that he sometimes became confused when writing letters about the deal and presumes that one version is a correction of another. However, in one case at least it seems the correct version is the one discovered by The Irish Times and not the one Mr Vaughan had on his files.

The evidence heard to date in relation to these transactions "will clearly now have to be reviewed and some of it revisited" because of the letters discovered by The Irish Times and the reaction of Mr Vaughan, the tribunal said this week.

The tribunal will also have to decide whether any person other than Mr Vaughan, who is "connected with the documents or the transactions to which they refer, ought to be identified with the actions of Mr Christopher Vaughan".

While there is a lot that is odd about the "money trail" evidence that has been heard to date, no proof of any payment from Mr O'Brien to Mr Lowry has been found. Furthermore, if in time the tribunal decides a payment was made, that in itself proves nothing in relation to the licence award process that Mr Lowry oversaw in 1995/96.

No evidence or allegation has been presented in the tribunal's public sessions or in the media, to suggest the competition for the licence was compromised.

Mr O'Brien has called for the public inquiry into the matter to proceed as soon as possible, so the innuendo, which he says now exists, can be put to rest.