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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
— June – July 2013
politics
T
IPPERARY people often wonder what
might have happened if David Molony
had not quit politics unexpectedly fol-
lowing six years as a North Tipperary
TD. In , Molony was the preferred Fine
Gael candidate of Garret FitzGerald in North
Tipperary. Molony defeated Michael Lowry (
votes to ) for the Fine Gael nomination and
was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann. Six
years later the idealistic solicitor walked away
from politics and Mr Lowry took the seat. Had
Molony continued, however, we might have been
spared one distressing scandal after another.
During the past year we have learned of
Michael Lowry’s complex relationship with the
Register of Members’ Interests. This vortex is,
however, small potatoes when compared to the
fact that Mr Lowry has been the subject of state
investigations since .
The McCracken Tribunal, for instance,
reported that Mr Lowry had interfered in a rent
arbitration process to the benefit of Ben Dunne.
In return Dunne contributed IR£,
towards renovation works at the Lowry fam-
ily home, works that were initially carried out
without planning permission. Mr Lowry is also
a proven tax evader. Michael Lowry’s company
Garuda Limited reached a settlement with the
Revenue Commissioners to pay €.m while
Michael Lowry made a personal payment of
€,.
In March the Moriarty Tribunal con-
cluded that the actions of Michael Lowry were
“profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing
short of breath-taking”. The Moriarty Tribunal
considered that Michael Lowry had interfered
with the mobile-phone licence competi-
tion to the benefit of Esat Digifone and that in
return Lowry had received payments exceeding
€m from Denis O’Brien.
On February th of this year the Sunday
Independent published the transcript of a conver-
sation between Michael Lowry and Omagh-based
property consultant Kevin Phelan which rein-
forced the findings of the tribunal. Central to the
conversation is a payment of £, which
Lowry made to Kevin Phelan.
It is quite clear from the taped conversation
that Michael Lowry is anxious to avoid any third
party connecting him to Glebe Trust. After publi-
cation of the transcript, Michael Lowry released a
statement which pointedly argued that he “never
had any material or beneficial interest in Glebe
Trust”. He’s also of course reserved his rights as
to whether it’s him in the recording at all.
The (allegedly) recorded conversation took
place on September th . At the time the
Moriarty Tribunal was investigating Michael
Lowry’s relationship with Denis O’Brien and
deliberating on whether it could legitimately
probe issues with regard to the purchase of
Doncaster Rovers Football Club Ltd (£.m) in
August .
This transaction was completed by Westferry
Limited – Westferry was initially owned by Kevin
Phelan’s Glebe Trust. However, by the time the
deal was finalised Westferry was owned by an
O’Brien trust.
The Moriarty Tribunal reported that it could
only make limited findings in terms of estab-
lishing the link between Michael Lowry, Denis
O’Brien and the sale of Doncaster Rovers because
of the ‘suppression’ of evidence. Mr Phelan had
declined an invitation to participate in the tribu-
nal and could not be compelled to do so.
In May Michael Lowry instructed
Kelly-Noone Solicitors to prepare a letter for the
Moriarty Tribunal which detailed a payment of
£, to Kevin Phelan in April . Lowry
indicated that this was the only payment made
to Kevin Phelan. The existence of a ‘new’ pay-
ment to Phelan, later confirmed as £,
and declared as tax compliant by Lowry, directly
contradicts evidence submitted to the Moriarty
Tribunal.
Under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act it is an
offence to knowingly present false or misleading
evidence to a tribunal – a person found to have
given false evidence to a tribunal can be jailed
for two years or fined up to €,. However,
Lowry has not been interviewed under caution by
the Gardaí despite calls from Fianna Fáil leader
Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty
for action to be taken. Is there a lack of political
will on the part of Fine Gael to tackle the issue?
Six current cabinet members worked along-
side Lowry in the ‘Rainbow Coalition’ when
the then Minister awarded the controversial
licence to Denis O’Brien.
In an Irish Independent report on April th
, Fionnan Sheahan revealed that Michael
Lowry was an honoured guest at Phil Hogan’s
th birthday party in July .
That party was attended by Enda Kenny.
Fionnan Sheahan reported a quip made by Mr
Kenny to Lowry: “is that an application form I
see in your top pocket?”. What was not reported
was that the Taoiseach spent much of the evening
Lowry standards
in low places
In Tipperary a sense of honour and decency is
cherished, but our response to the behaviour of
Michael Lowry will denominate the future of
this country
Innocent times
“
People who live in large
centres of population, and
who do not enjoy direct
access to their local TD,
struggle to understand the
impact the personal touch
of a politician can have
name with editor
in warm and jocular conversation with his dis-
graced colleague.
Subsequent to the publication of the Moriarty
report Lowry was granted meetings with Minister
for the Environment Phil Hogan, Minister for
Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for Health
Dr James Reilly.
Perhaps it is such behaviour that forms
the basis for Michael Lowry’s robust self-
confidence.
Lowry responded to the details of the Moriarty
Tribunal report with a swagger – he refused to
accept the findings and labelled the report “a
scandal of truly epic proportions”. Mr Lowry
refused to resign from Dáil Éireann in even
though his fellow TDs passed a motion requesting
that he do so. Indeed, in July Michael Lowry
welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to
allow the two unsuccessful bidders (Persona &
the Cellstar consortium) to challenge the state’s
decision to grant a mobile phone licence
to Esat Digifone.
The pressing issue, however, is to ascertain
why the people of North Tipperary continue to
return this individual to Dáil Éireann – Mr Lowry
has topped the constituency poll in , ,
and .
Michael Lowry is popular because he is a
political grafter, he involves himself in the com-
munity and works to further the interests of his
constituents.
To regard the election of Michael Lowry to Dáil
Éireann as a pathology associated with a bandit
culture which may or may not exist in Tipperary
is far too simplistic. People who live in large cen-
tres of population, and who do not enjoy direct
access to their local TD, struggle to understand
the impact the personal touch of a politician can
have.
In Tipperary North Michael Lowry carefully
plays the role of victim – he has long fostered
an image of himself as persecuted by the ‘Dublin
media’. Mr Lowry has persistently referred to an
“organised, concerted and vicious media cam-
paign” waged against him.
In , for example, Minister for Public
Transport Alan Kelly called on Deputy Lowry to
give a full account of his version of events regard-
ing the Kevin Phelan tapes since he felt the issue
was effecting the reputation of Tipperary North.
Instead of dealing with the substantive issue at
hand the Lowry Team, Mr Lowry’s mini-party
of local councillors, rounded on the Labour TD.
During one notable exchange Michael O’Meara,
Mayor of North Tipperary, explained that he
expected such comments from the “Dublin
media”.
The creation of such a siege complex is a delib-
erate ploy of the Lowry Team. Indeed, following
the publication of the Moriarty Tribunal report
the Tipperary North TD issued an invitation
(by text) to his most loyal supporters to a pri-
vate meeting (over attended) at the Anner
Hotel, Thurles on March th to “discuss
the Moriarty report”. After director of elections
Michael Collins introduced Michael Lowry to the
crowd the Tipperary North TD excused himself
to speak briefly to reporters who had “invited
themselves” along. The attending members of
the press were then asked to leave the meeting
and as they did so some of Mr Lowry’s most loyal
supporters led a chant of “out, out, out”.
In Mr Lowry had convened a simi-
lar meeting to generate support following the
scandal associated with the McCracken Tribunal
- Lowry was forced to step down from the cabinet
table in November after it emerged Ben
Dunne had financed an extension of Mr Lowry’s
home in Holycross.
Tipperary people believe that a sense of hon-
our should count for something; that they should
stand by one of their own. But such a sense of
honour does not represent a sufficient basis for
constituents to disregard Mr Lowry’s behaviour.
Michael Lowry is no hero. Persistent support for
Mr Lowry does not represent a show of sympathy
for someone in trouble. Instead, it is a show of
support for an individual who has done wrong.
Following the General Election Michael
Lowry rewarded , constituents who had
afforded Lowry a first preference vote by spend-
ing the opening day of Dáil Éireann in the Canary
Islands. Indeed, Lowry maintains one of the very
worst voting records in the Dáil. Michael Lowry
is not an honourable man and has used his role
as a public servant to inappropriately advance
his own personal interests.
Michael Lowry has been exposed as a blatant
liar – during a prepared address to the Dáil in
Mr Lowry declared that if he had money to
hide he would have “put it in an offshore account”.
That day Mr Lowry worked to create an impres-
sion that he had no such account. In fact, the
Revenue Commissioners would later discover
that he had at least four.
On that basis alone Lowry is patently unfit to
sit in Dáil Éireann. We do not ask the people of
North Tipperary to wade their way through the
,-page Moriarty Tribunal report, but what
we do ask is that his constituents familiarise
themselves with how the Holycross man behaves.
It is up to Mr Lowry’s constituents to address the
issue of his very presence in Dáil Éireann.
The Moriarty Tribunal report revealed that
Michael Lowry personally pocketed £,
which Ben Dunne had earmarked as a Christmas
bonus from Dunnes Stores for staff of Mr
Lowry’s Thurles-based refrigeration company,
Streamline. The chairman of the inquiry, Justice
Michael Moriarty, described this as among the
“most reprehensible” of actions carried out by the
Tipperary North TD. Are these the actions of an
honourable man?
How we deal with Michael Lowry raises ques-
tions of the very country in which we live. If we
want to build a better future for this country
Michael Lowry is not the type of individual that
we can afford to indulge. We in Tipperary must
ask ourselves what kind of politician we want to
represent us.
This article was written by a member of the
provincial press who wanted it said he was born,
grew up, lives and works in North Tipperary.
“
The Moriarty Tribunal
concluded that the actions
of Michael Lowry were
“profoundly corrupt to a
degree that was nothing
short of breath-taking”.
The Tribunal considered
that Michael Lowry had
interfered with the 1995
mobile-phone licence
competition to the benet
of Esat Digifone and
that in return Mr Lowry
had received payments
exceeding €1m from Denis
O’Brien
