DENIS O’Brien maintains that he never paid a former Irish communications minister in exchange for a telephone company licence that helped him become one of Ireland’s wealthiest men.

Yesterday, the Moriarty Tribunal made public a voluminous report from a 14-year probe, which documented Communication Minister Michael Lowry’s lobbying on behalf of telecoms tycoon O’Brien and his alleged confidential payments to Lowry.

But O’Brien was flabbergasted that the sole member of the tribunal conducting the probe, Justice Michael Moriarty, came to that conclusion despite several high level officials giving testimony to the contrary. The head of Digicel Group found the basis of the report “fundamentally flawed”, given that it is based on the “opinions and theories” of Moriarty and his legal team.

“It is extremely disturbing that the chairman of this tribunal would choose to ignore the sworn evidence of the Department of Communication, Department of Finance, 17 civil servants, five government ministers, two barristers from the Office of the Attorney General, one former Taoiseach, one senior counsel to the Irish State and Professor Michael Andersen, principal of AMI — the internationally-renowned world experts in this field,” said O’Brien in a written statement.

“I wish to state in the most categoric terms once again that I never made any payment to Michael Lowry in his capacity as a government minister, as a public representative or as a private citizen,” O’Brien added.

Ireland launched the probe in 1997 after a leaked corporate report identified Ben Dunne as a secret benefactor for Lowry and former Prime Minister Charles Haughey.

It also examined Lowry’s 1995 decision to award a telephone company licence to O’Brien, who led the Esat Digifone Consortium application process.

Esat Digifone quickly won 42 per cent market share, making it the most successful second entrant in a European Union mobile market ever. BT Telecom acquired Esat Digifone in 2000 — the year Digicel entered the Jamaican market.

Yesterday’s 2,350-page report documented UK and Irish property transactions conducted by Lowry and “dealings with Mr O’Brien”, which were allegedly conducted through O’Brien’s agents and associates. The report also claimed that a payment of £147,000 was made from O’Brien to Lowry in 1996, when Lowry was still in office.

“This payment was made indirectly, having been transmitted by an off-shore route, through Mr Aidan Phelan and the late Mr David Austin,” said the report.

The report also spoke to another alleged payment of £300,000 “the bulk of which was used for the purchase of a property by Mr Lowry at Mansfield, in Derbyshire in the UK”.

O’Brien said he planned to study the report in detail yesterday, but added that Moriarty made errors in the past that formed the basis of “false theories”.

“It is worth noting that the chairman of the tribunal, a High Court Judge of many years, admitted last year to making “two not insignificant errors”, both of which had been used to substantiate false theories,” said O’Brien. “I believe it is unprecedented in the history of this country that a High Court Judge would make such fundamental errors which went to the heart of the credibility and integrity of a tribunal process.

“The reason these errors were admitted was only because they had been uncovered by the diligent work of members of the legal profession. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the chairman makes no reference to the concealment of crucial correspondence by the tribunal from the office of the attorney general over an eight-year period. It has been evident from the outset to me and to many other witnesses before this tribunal that the final report would be designed to damage the reputations of many reputable people. I believe it is now incumbent on the judiciary to investigate the conduct of Mr Justice Michael Moriarty and the tribunal legal team for the manner in which they conducted themselves,” he added.

Digicel, in a statement issued yesterday, said: “Digicel is in no way affected or involved in the recently published report of a tribunal of inquiry into, among other matters, the Irish Government’s awarding of the second mobile phone licence for Ireland in 1996. The inquiry, referred to as The Moriarty Tribunal, has just completed this phase of its work, which began in 2001. The tribunal is made up of one member, Mr Justice Moriarty, who is expected to present what is referred to as a “reasoned expression of opinion” relating to the matters he has investigated. As a “reasoned expression of opinion” the report has no legal effect or consequences. As the owner and chairman of Digicel, Denis O’Brien has been the driving force behind revolutionising mobile communications across the Caribbean and the Pacific, making mobile communications accessible to all and ensuring that customers benefit from best value, best service and the best network. Denis’ vision, drive, energy and integrity continue to be integral to Digicel’s success. This has seen the company win and operate 32 mobile licences across the globe. Digicel employs 5,500 people around the world with more than 11.5 million customers, and the company’s total investments across 32 markets worldwide exceed US$4.5 billion.”