The Daily Star Ireland
Independent TD Michael Lowry has sought permission to come into the Dáil to reply to allegations levelled against him by Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty. Speaking to RTÉ’s *This Week*, Mr Lowry said he had written formally to the Ceann Comhairle’s office, seeking an early opportunity to make a personal statement on the floor of the Dáil in response to what he described as a “smear” against him.
He referred to comments by Mr. Doherty who used Dáil privilege to raise allegations relating to Mr. Lowry’s dealings with the Moriarty Tribunal. Mr. Lowry accused Mr. Doherty of making “so-called new allegations” about his dealings with the tribunal and reiterated his intention to deal with the matter publicly.
Mr Doherty also alleged in the Dáil that Mr Lowry had received £1m in financial backing from businessman Denis O’Brien, saying the Independent TD played a “pivotal” role in the awarding of certain contracts. He further described Mr Lowry as “the star of the Moriarty Tribunal” and called on him to “come clean” about his role in the deal for Doncaster Football Club.
Mr. Doherty outlined some of the evidence, including 57 meetings about the Doncaster deal, he said Mr. Lowry had – some within the Oireachtas and in the boardroom of Doncaster Football Club. He alleged that in the year 2001, Mr. Lowry’s accountant issued two bank drafts, the total value £57,500, to one of the other parties to the Doncaster deal. He claimed payments from a Gibraltar account were not disclosed to the tribunal.
Mr. Doherty also accused Mr. Lowry of involvement in the creation of false narratives and sham documents presented to the Moriarty Tribunal. He further claimed that, in 2002, Mr. Lowry and two others burned original documents relating to those deals at a rural farm in order to cover up the truth. Mr. Doherty said his claims were based on information from someone who was present during these events.
Under privilege, Mr Doherty challenged Taoiseach Micheál Martin, pointing out he had called in the past for an investigation into Mr Lowry while now allowing him to “hold significant influence” over the incoming government. He said the government was entering into a “grubby” Programme for Government with Mr Lowry and asked why Mr Martin had changed his position.
The findings of the Moriarty Tribunal – established to investigate the granting of a mobile phone license and other related transactions – were comprehensively rejected by Mr. Lowry and all the other individuals it criticized. Mr. Lowry lambasted the tribunal’s report, labeling it “factually wrong and deliberately misleading,” adding that the views expressed by Mr. Justice Moriarty were not supported by evidence or fact. Similarly, businessman Denis O’Brien, who was named in the report, has dismissed its findings, describing the conclusions as fundamentally flawed and denying that any payments were made to Mr. Lowry.
