Mr Denis O'Brien was accused today of deliberately failing to submit a number of important matters to the Moriarty Tribunal.
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr John Coughlan SC, put it to Mr O'Brienthat in his opening statement he hadfailed to bring several important matters to the tribunal’s attention.
Mr Coughlansaid the tribunal was only contacted by Mr Denis O'Brien within days of an RTÉ news report last May that revealed Mr Michael Lowry had obtained a loan of£150,000 from a friend of Mr O'Brien's.
Mr O'Brien only then contacted the tribunal and advised it he had bought a holiday home from his friend, the late Fine Gael fundraiser David Austin in 1996 for the same amount, Mr Coughlan said.
Mr O'Brien refuted the allegation saying he had, from the outset, never claimed privelege nor had he adopted an ‘á la carte approach’. "We went straight in and gave you everything," Mr O’Brien said.
Mr O'Brien was also asked why he failed to tell the tribunal about a conversation he had with former Esat Digifone chief executive, Mr Barry Maloney in 1996. Mr Maloney claimed Mr O'Brien had told him of a payment that was to be made to Mr Michael Lowry.
Mr Eoin McGonigal SC, counsel for Mr O’Brien, asked whether his client in fact had a legal duty to provide the tribunal with such detailed evidence.
Mr Justice Moriarty said Mr Coughlan was pointing to "statements of fact" and he would prefer if the tribunal did not get weighed down with legal argument.
This afternoon, Mr Denis O'Brien told the tribunal that Telenor were probably interested in developing political contacts in Ireland when they made a $50,000 donation to Fine Gael.
Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons SC, Counsel for Telenor put it to Mr O’Brien that this was "an act of the imagination."
Mr O'Brien, repeating earlier evidence, said he had introduced Mr Austin to Mr Arve Johansen of Telenor. He had suggested the payment because the Fine Gael party was in financial difficulty and there was a fund-raising dinner planned in New York.
In heated exchanges between Mr Fitzsimons and Mr O'Brien the former Esat chairman maintained that he had no direct involvement in reimbursing Telenor for the $50,000 Fine Gael donation.
The Tribunal resumes on Monday.