Officials involved in awarding Denis O’Brien a mobile phone licence almost 30 years ago have been directed to “identify and preserve” old diaries and files from that era, as the Government prepares to defend a court action against the contentious award to the businessman.
In a move showing how the 1995 contest remains a source of trouble for the Government, current and former officials in as many as seven departments were told to provide a list by a deadline yesterday of any records they still hold on the licence award.
The demand from the Department of Communications covered any paper or electronic documents spanning 13 years between 1990 and 2002 involving either the licence won by Mr O’Brien’s Esat Digifone company or the Moriarty tribunal, the inquiry which made damning findings in 2011 about the licence award after years of investigation.
The licence was one of the most lucrative ever awarded by the State. It became the foundation stone of Mr O’Brien’s fortune as he established himself as one of Ireland’s wealthiest businessmen, with Caribbean telecoms, Irish media and property interests.
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Mr O’Brien has always rejected outright Mr Justice Michael Moriarty’s conclusion that Mr O’Brien gave money to then Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry, who “secured the winning” of the licence for him. Mr Lowry, an Independent TD, also dismissed the findings.
Now the Government is preparing within the next three weeks to meet an “onerous and extensive” order for the discovery of documents in a court action against the licence award that was initiated more than 20 years ago by an unsuccessful bidder.
Despite the tribunal’s findings, the Government has told officials involved in the award process that it will “vigorously defend” the proceedings taken by businessman Declan Ganley and co-litigants including Comcast International Holdings.
In recent correspondence to the officials, the communications department asked for assistance in identifying any potentially relevant documents and files with a view to compiling a “central master list” of case records.
“Please note that this will include all documentation and information stored on your work laptop/computer, mobile phone, blackberry, home computer and any other portable devices, such as USB keys, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs, winzip devices etc in addition to information stored within the department’s computer-based files and shared servers,” officials were told.
“It also includes all forms of documentation such as correspondence, diaries (electronic or hard copy) and instant messages. The above list is intended to give examples of the types of information/records you should preserve but is not exhaustive.”
Officials were directed “not to access, alter or delete” any potentially relevant information. “If you fail to preserve these materials it could be detrimental to the Minister’s position in the litigation. No documents which are potentially relevant to this process should be deleted or destroyed until further notice.”
There was no Government comment. “You will appreciate that the department is not in a position to make any comment on these matters, which are the subject of proceedings currently before the courts,” said a spokeswoman.
There was no immediate comment from Mr O’Brien’s spokesman.
