Former Esat director says Maloney acted irresponsibly

A former director of Esat Digifone said he believed its former chief executive, Mr Barry Maloney, was acting irresponsibly when he raised questions concerning a possible payment to Mr Michael Lowry.

Mr Leslie Buckley, a former director of both Esat Digifone and Esat Telecom, said he met Mr Denis O'Brien on Saturday, October 25th, 1997. They discussed a number of matters, including concerns recently expressed by Mr Maloney about a comment made to him a year earlier by Mr O'Brien.

Mr Maloney had said Mr O'Brien told him he had made a payment of £100,000 to Mr Lowry. Mr Buckley said he and Mr O'Brien discussed Mr Maloney's concerns "in the context of a wider discussion regarding Barry Maloney".

Mr Buckley said he and Mr O'Brien felt Mr Maloney was trying to stop the initial public offering of Esat Telecom, then being planned. Mr Buckley said he was "confused and concerned" that Mr Maloney was raising the matter one year after the comment had been made.

The development had "shades" of Mr Maloney's resignation in December 1996, Mr Buckley said. That resignation had occurred when Esat Telecom was trying to raise £25 million and Esat Digifone was doing a bond issue. He felt the accusations of Mr Buckley were, "to say the least, irresponsible".

"As far as I was concerned each time we were seeking funds he had played brinkmanship," Mr Buckley said. Mr Maloney's resignation in December 1996 led to the renegotiation of his share options package and Mr Maloney eventually got £40 million for his shares.

Asked why he did not seek to have Mr Maloney removed from his position, Mr Buckley said Esat Telecom had only three directors on the board of Esat Digifone.

He said he believed Mr O'Brien's version of how the comment concerning Mr Lowry was made. Mr O'Brien was the type of person who might say something jocose while trying to persuade someone. "Denis likes to mix fun with business. He does that very successfully."

Mr Buckley said Mr O'Brien told him the payment he had thought about making to Mr Lowry had become "stuck" in Woodchester Bank. He didn't wonder about this phraseology. Mr O'Brien was saying the money never got beyond Woodchester "and I never queried that".

A search of Mr O'Brien's accounts in Woodchester was conducted but, Mr Buckley confirmed to Mr Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, he was not made aware of a £400,000 payment at the time which included "a payment very close to £100,000 to certain individuals".

Mr Buckley told Mr Eoin Fitzsimons SC, for the Norwegian company Telenor, it might have been he who asked Mr Aidan Phelan to get a note from the late Mr David Austin concerning a $50,000 donation to Fine Gael.

He told Mr Eoin McGonigal SC, for Mr O'Brien, that it was correct Mr Maloney did not accept an offer of £250,000 in December 1996 for staying on as CEO for six weeks. If Mr Maloney had resigned he would have lost his options.

Another Esat Digifone director, Mr John Callaghan, said he had not been told in 1997 about the £400,000 transfer out of Woodchester.