An Irish woman's social, political and domestic commentary
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| GUBU An Irish woman's social, political and domestic commentary |
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Monday, January 19, 2004
Moriarty Tribunal - Part 1.
So I'm up on Wednesday. Here's the deal with Moriarty. They are supposed to be enquiring if a) Michael Lowry received any payments, corrupt or otherwise from Denis O'Brien and b) if in return for said payments he interfered with, to DOB's advantage, the competition for the second GSM licence which was won by Esat Digifone. To date, after several years of enquiry they have discovered that Esat made donations to FG in the form of lunches and golf sponsorships. A table at a fundraising lunch costed 1000 punts. The money at each lunch goes into the local constituency fund. 10 Esat executives would go sit at a table and listen to a John Bruton speech and eat some roast beef. Everyone saw us there. The money was declared in Esat's accounts as payments to FG and published by FG as money received. Michael Lowry wasn't at most of the lunches. In fact, I think he was at one. Esat also sponsored a golf tournament and made a donation to a by-election fund. They also made similar donations to Fianna Fail and the PD's. How are these payments even remotely classified as worthy of investigation when they go the political party, not the individual? When other bidders also made similar donations? When everything is declared publicly? I've had to attend for a private session, submit a statement and spend loads of time telling them what they already know and what isn't remotely illegal, never mind unethical at a huge cost to the state. The senior counsel involved gets 2.5k per day that the Tribunal sits. Wonder if that has anything to do with this pointless investigation? That and the egos involved. How they love to conduct their expensive witch hunt. If there are any dodgy payments, they have lots of powers, as do the Rev and CAB to discover these, without having to drag me into it. Still, I'm getting the hair done tomorrow and had a facial today. They can play out their courtroom drama and I will at least look good. Will continue to address specific issues over the next few days. posted by Sarah | 22:04 0 comments
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