Mr Michael Lowry told the Moriarty Tribunal today he had been through five different investigations in the last six years at an estimated cost of £1,436,000 to himself and his businesses.
Mr Lowry said he had gone through the Buchannan Inquiry, the McCracken Tribunal, Minister Mary Harney’s investigation into his business Garuda, the Revenue Commissioners and the Moriarty Tribunal.
Mr Lowry was giving evidence this morning on details of a 1998 land purchase he made in the UK in partnership with Mr Aidan Phelan, an accountant who was then acting as financial adviser to Esat Digifone boss Mr Denis O’Brien.
He told the tribunal that under the terms of the purchase he had placed the initial 10 per cent deposit on the £250,000 sterling land and that Mr Phelan, who he said was brought into the deal at a later stage by the land broker without any prompting from himself, put up the remaining 90 per cent of the cost.
However the money from Mr Phelan went directly from a Denis O’Brien account at Credit Suise First Boston to the client account to seal the purchase and the title for the property is held solely by Mr Lowry.
But Mr Lowry told counsel for the tribunal Mr Jerry Healy SC that the joint venture agreement between Mr Phelan and himself clearly stated that the arrangement was one of 90/10 and that it was legally binding.
Mr Healy asked Mr Lowry if Mr Phelan was concerned that he had no protection on the land registry in England and that there was nothing stopping Mr Lowry from selling the property. Mr Lowry said he did not and said he saw nothing strange in the arrangement.
Investigating the joint venture agreement between Mr Phelan and Mr Lowry, Mr Healy questioned the vagueness of a performance-related clause that would benefit Mr Lowry if there were large profits from the deal but that left the amount and the means unspecified.
Mr Healy asked Mr Lowry why he should be entitled to extra if, as he had said in earlier evidence, the work of getting Mr Phelan to invest had been undertaken by the land broker, Northern Ireland based Mr Kevin Phelan (no relation).
Mr Healy asked if it was not true that Mr Aidan Phelan had in fact rescued Mr Lowry by entering into the deal shortly before the purchase needed to be signed off?
But Mr Lowry strenuously denied both accusations and said he had spent a lot of time ensuring aspects of the purchase would allow the land to be developed as hotel and, more lucratively, that should the land be rezoned residential some time in the future that access and right-of-way issues were sorted out to allow such a development.
He said he had brought the agreement to the table and felt it was only fair that in the event of excessive profit he benefit from this work.
Mr Lowry also reiterated he had a clear conscience over his handling of the awarding of the mobile phone license to Esat Digifone.
"I feel totally free to deal with Mr O’Brien or any business person in Ireland. I know there was nothing untoward with the awarding of the licence," he said.
Mr Lowry also was at pains to point out the failure of three people associated with him to agree to appear before the Tribunal, including Mr Keven Phelan who set up the land purchase, had nothing to do with him. He told the Tribunal he would welcome their evidence.
In the afternoon Mr Lowry was questioned over his involvement of second land purchase in England for which he was loaned money by Mr Phelan.
The Tribunal continues.