REACTION:NORWEGIAN TELECOMS group Telenor, which partnered with Denis O'Brien to win the second mobile phone licence for Esat Digifone in 1996, said yesterday it was "surprised" by the findings of the Moriarty report.
In a statement to The Irish Times, the company said: "Telenor knows nothing of the alleged payments by O'Brien to Mr Lowry.
“We are confident that Esat Digifone was awarded the licence because it had the best bid, the best offering and the best technical solution.
“The decision on selecting Esat Digifone as the winner was based on a thorough and fair evaluation of the bids. Telenor’s GSM expertise and financial strength contributed to the strength of the bid.”
On the $50,000 political donation to Fine Gael, paid in late 1995 by Telenor on behalf of Esat, a spokesman said the company would do things differently today.
“It is important to remember that this was in the early days of Telenor’s international process and at that time it was legal and common to do political donations,” he said.
“However, that wouldn’t have occurred today.”
Meanwhile, Persona, the runner-up to Esat for the licence, broke its silence yesterday.
“We will continue to seek through the courts the justice and fair play we were denied when we bid for the licence,” a statement from Tony Boyle and Michael McGinley, who own Persona, said.
They welcomed the referral of the report to the Garda Commissioner and the DPP.
“Anyone found to have illegally profited from the awarding of the licence should be vigorously pursued and punished, with the Criminal Assets Bureau being deployed to seize their assets in accordance with the law,” the pair said.
Mr Boyle and Mr McGinley said their rights were “violated” and they were the victims of a “grave injustice”.
In response, Mr O’Brien said: “Persona’s loss was nothing to do with ‘grave injustices’. They lost because they failed to put in a bid that could rival the Esat Digifone bid.
“That is the simple truth borne out by the evidence of every single person involved in the licence evaluation process.
“Mr Boyle and Mr McGinley very clearly thought the better of putting their money where their mouth was and preferred to follow the low-cost, low-risk route of having the tribunal’s team of multi-millionaire lawyers prepare the Persona case for 15 years, funded through an unlimited budget.”
Mr O’Brien said he looked forward to seeing “what actual evidence” Persona would use in its “speculative claim” against the State. Telenor said it had had no contact with Mr O’Brien since the report was published.
It does not expect the findings to affect its reputation. “The report describes events that occurred more than 15 years ago.
“The contents relating to Telenor have been publicly known since 2001. There is nothing new in the report concerning Telenor. Telenor does not stand accused of any wrongdoings.”
Telenor’s website states it made $1.72 billion from the sale of its 40 per cent Esat stake to BT in 2000.
It does not expect to be the subject of any lawsuits relating to the Moriarty findings. “We do not contemplate any legal action against Telenor,” it added.
Businessman Declan Ganley, who is pursuing a Supreme Court case relating to the mobile licence, told The Irish Times: "Telenor will be hearing from me."
He declined to elaborate on this. He led the Cellstar consortium that finished sixth and last in the licence competition.
