Written evidence from Mr Barry Maloney, former chief executive of Esat Digifone, recorded how he "pleaded" with Mr Denis O'Brien to delay the IPO (initial public offering) of Esat Telecom until after the Moriarty tribunal.
Mr O'Brien was asked if he remembered this. "I don't remember him actually pleading but I remember him saying `Could you not hold off the IPO?'," he replied.
He said they had "various conversations" during which Mr Maloney "was trying to delay it". Mr O'Brien said a delay would have had a very serious impact on the company, "and he would have known that".
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr John Coughlan SC, asked Mr O'Brien if he agreed Mr Maloney had "a legitimate concern in respect of a personal liability and a liability for the company of which he was chief executive officer". Mr O'Brien said he did not agree.
Mr Coughlan said: "You are not suggesting that as chief executive officer it wouldn't be a matter of concern if your chairman informed you that you had paid £100,000 to a man who had been a cabinet minister?"
Mr O'Brien said he disagreed with the timing of Mr Maloney's airing of his concern.
In another document which Mr Maloney said contained responses by Mr O'Brien to queries of his, Mr Maloney noted: "Pushed by US investors. Doesn't want or need to go the IPO now." Mr O'Brien was asked if he said this to Mr Maloney. Mr O'Brien denied he had. "I could never ever have said that because the capital requirements of Esat Telecom at the time were immense.
"We were rolling out a fixed network and also contributing the cost of a mobile network, so we had an appetite for cash which ranged from £75 to £100 million a year. So I would never, ever have said that."
Mr O'Brien was earlier asked to assess his relationship with Mr Maloney in 1997. "Our relationship was strained, and that's why I kept running with him to see if I could get some working relationship to continue," he said.