The former minister Mr Michael Lowry is to be questioned at the Moriarty Tribunal today about documents which tribunal lawyers say may have been designed to conceal his involvement in a controversial property transaction, writes Chris Dooley
The tribunal is investigating whether letters supplied to it by a number of parties, including a solicitor and a consultant who acted for Mr Lowry, were altered to "avoid scrutiny" of his continued involvement in a property in England.
Mr Lowry's purchase of the property in Cheadle has already been the subject of investigations by the tribunal, which heard evidence last year that the businessman Mr Denis O'Brien was linked to a loan used for the purchase.
Mr O'Brien denies any involvement with the loan or the transaction. He was briefly recalled to the witness box yesterday when the tribunal held its first public session since November, and later expressed outrage at his treatment.
When Mr Lowry gives evidence today, he will be asked if he can explain why two different versions of two letters about the Cheadle transaction were given to the tribunal by a number of parties with whom he has been associated.
His solicitor has told the tribunal by letter that the former minister "has no knowledge whatsoever" of the letters concerned and "is at a loss" to understand them.
The discrepancies came to light in March when an Irish Times journalist, Mr Colm Keena, supplied the tribunal with copies of the letters which differed from the versions it had previously received. Mr Keena was attempting to verify a story.
The letters were written in July and September 2000, and both were from Mr Christopher Vaughan, the solicitor who acted for Mr Lowry in the Cheadle transaction, to Mr Kevin Phelan, a property consultant, who had also represented Mr Lowry in the purchase.
The versions in Mr Keena's possession indicated Mr Lowry remained involved in the Cheadle property until at least September 2000. He has told the tribunal that it was taken over by Mr Denis O'Brien's accountant, Mr Aidan Phelan, at the beginning of that year.
Copies of the initial versions, which make no reference to Mr Lowry's continued involvement, had been supplied to the tribunal by Mr Vaughan, Mr Kevin Phelan and Mr Aidan Phelan.
In a letter to Mr Vaughan in April, the solicitor to the tribunal, Mr John Davis, said it appeared that two files had been kept in connection with the matter, "one for disclosure and one to be obscured from disclosure".
It appeared, he said, that "this concealment may be related to the involvement of Mr Lowry".
In a letter to Mr Lowry's solicitor, Mr Michael Kelly, on May 31st, Mr Davis said it would appear two sets of files had been kept in a way that was "calculated to avoid scrutiny of the true nature of the dealings with which Mr Vaughan was involved on behalf of your client".
Mr Kelly replied, enclosing a copy of a letter he had sent to Mr Vaughan, asking for an explanation of the content of the two letters. It was "abundantly clear" from the evidence given to the tribunal and the surrounding circumstances that by February 2000 Mr Lowry was no longer involved in the Cheadle transaction, the letter added.
Mr Vaughan, who lives in England, has told the tribunal he has a heart condition and has refused repeated requests to give evidence. He did offer an explanation for the discrepancies in letters to the tribunal in April and again this month, however.
In a letter on July 17th, he said Mr Kevin Phelan dealt with him in relation to many matters. Communication was mainly by fax and, "inevitably some misunderstandings occurred between us".
It was possible Mr Phelan had corrected his understanding of events and had sent him an amended version. As far as Mr Vaughan was concerned, the tribunal had been sent the correct version of the letters.
In evidence yesterday, Mr O'Brien said he knew nothing about the two letters.