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The second and final report of the Moriarty Tribunal has been finally published.
This inquiry was initially established in 1997, to examine the financial affairs of former Taoiseach Charles James ‘Charlie’ Haughey and former Fine Gael Communications Minister and newly elected Tipperary North Constituency Independent TD, Michael Lowry.
 Deputy M. Lowry This newly published final report (For Report click Here) details the investigation into possible links between businessman Denis O’Brien and Michael Lowry.
Ireland’s second mobile phone licence was awarded to Denis O’Brien’s company Digifone in 1995. Mr Lowry was then Communications Minister when the controversial mobile phone licence was granted.
The report states that it is ‘beyond doubt ‘ that Michael Lowry imparted substantive information to Denis O’Brien which was ‘of significant value and assistance to him (Denis O’Brien) in securing the licence.‘
The report refers to Mr Lowry’s ‘cynical and venal abuse of office,‘ his ‘brazen refusal ‘ to acknowledge the ‘impropriety ‘ of his financial arrangements with Mr O’Brien and Mr Ben Dunne, and his ‘contemptuous disregard ‘ for his taxation obligations.
The report is also damning of evidence given by the North Tipp Deputy to the Tribunal, stating that his evidence was ‘formulaic, and entirely inconsistent and at variance with evidence.‘
Deputy Michael Lowry stated in a response, that he totally rejects the tenure of the Moriarty report. “His report is factually wrong and deliberately misleading. Moriarty has outrageously abused the Tribunal’s ability to form opinions which are not substantiated by evidence or fact.”
In a statement following this latest publication Mr Denis O’Brien said, “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. 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.”
Fine Gael Taoiseach Enda Kenny has stated, “This is a report that deserves serious analysis and it will get that from this Government.” He said, “This is a matter of grave importance with major implications for the State and for the taxpayer.”
Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil a short time ago that members of of his Party would be available to answer questions in the Dáil, regarding any part they played in the awarding of the mobile phone licence to Esat Digiphone, in 1995.
This reports findings now raises profound questions, regarding Mr Michael Lowry’s suitability to remain in public Office.
 Casino Gambling It was only a matter of time I suppose, but today, ‘The Irish Times‘ newspaper brings us news of a proposal for yet another €300 million Super-Casino, this time on the banks of the river Liffey.
Treasury Holdings, whose loans are presently in Nama have submitted a proposal to the Department of Justice, in conjunction with an international casino operator.
Treasury Holdings founding shareholder, Johnny Ronan, dubbed The Buccaneer, went into business in his twenties with his father, who started out as a pig-trader in Tipperary and went on to work in property. Ronan then studied accounting in Waterford Institute of Technology and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Treasury Holdings state that its Spencer Dock site near Dublin Port is an “ideal location” for the construction of a large-scale Casino as part of a regeneration of this area.
Rather like the Tipperary Venue, it also claims the development could attract three million visitors a year and create 2,200 new jobs in the Dublin region. The venture could boost spending in the local economy by up to €75 million a year and generate more than €40 million per year in gaming taxes.
According to the submission, a large-scale casino, including hotel, convention and spa facilities, along with restaurants, pubs, nightclubs and a bowling alley, (No Racecourse) would be 50,000-75,000 sq metres in size and would cost between €250 million and €300 million to develop.
The proposal states, that for a large scale Casino to be financially viable, there must be sufficient demand. “This generally means locating the Casino Resort in or near population centres, where it is easily accessible by local customers and tourists.”
The submission also claims the development would employ 1,750 people as well as creating 450 jobs in tourism. About 2,000 jobs in construction would be created over a 2½-year period.
The name of this company has been withheld on the documents released on grounds of commercial sensitivity.
It rejects the contention that problem gambling will rise, with the introduction of such large-scale casinos.
Meanwhile a planning decision on the Tipperary Venue is expected very shortly.
 ST. KILLIANS CANDLE COMPANY New York’s venerable St Patrick’s Cathedral has placed orders with a Tipperary manufacturer for religious candles.
St Killian’s Candle Company has won a lucrative deal with the assistance of Enterprise Ireland. The order is for the company’s new smokeless candles which are seen as a cleaner, safer and a more cost-effective alternative to the traditional candles used in churches.
Owner and Director Michael Murphy (trading as Murphy Candles Ltd), has distributed conventional candle systems and candles from his warehouse in Cahir, Co. Tipperary for nearly 20 years. He has a close business relationship and friendship with his co-owner and joint Managing Director Michael Barrett, latter owner of The Candle Store in Connemara, Co. Galway for over 10 years.
The partnership have developed the unique St Killian’s candle system to provide a safer, cleaner, environmentally friendly system for Cathedrals, Churches and Holy Shrines.
Traditionally, candles are placed in holders before and during use, whilst the candle is burning. These conventional systems are prone to a lack of safety, waste and environmental issues and are one of the biggest causes of fires in churches.
Through their global industry network and wide range of contacts, the inventors identified the absence of a safe, clean, environmentally friendly way to use candles and set out to develop a system to fill this need.
The Company presently supply to many Cathedrals and Churches around the world including Galway Cathedral here in Ireland, and Pisa Cathedral in Italy.
 Revenue Commissioners The Revenue Commissioners have returned yields of more than €116 million from its audit and investigation programmes, during the final three months of 2010.
Iris Oifigiúil, the Irish State Gazette, yesterday published the names of 62 tax defaulters who have made recent settlements with Revenue, totalling some €21 millions, for this fourth quarter period and being only part of the total sum of €116.1 million yielded from Revenue investigations, during the stated period.
Of the 62 settlements published, 31 cases were for amounts exceeding €100,000, 7 cases exceeded half a million euro and 2 cases were above 1 million euro.
The highest single case was the Tipperary manufacturing firm of Gleeson Concrete, which made a settlement of €7.65 million in relation to under-declaration of Corporation tax, VAT and PAYE/PRSI. This case was discovered following Revenue investigations into the misuse of Trusts and Offshore Structures, put in place to evade tax.
The family business of Gleeson Concrete was first established in 1958 and has its registered offices situated on the Dooradoyle Road, in Co.Limerick. However the company operates primarily in Tipperary and has its main production facility here in Donohill, Co Tipperary.
The final financial settlement with the Company is understood to included €4.8 million charged by Revenue in extra interest and penalties.
 Nenagh Open Coffee Club After an absence of several months the Nenagh Open Coffee Club is launching again on Saturday March 12th next, in the Abbey Court Hotel Nenagh.
Open Coffee Clubs were originally begun to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organise real-world informal ‘meet-ups’ to chat, networks and grow.
The events are for anyone who runs a business, thinking about starting one, interested in investing in one or who has any sort of interest in business AND who is willing to meet like minded people, in order to share thoughts and experience, in order to improve the business environment in their area.
The Nenagh event is organised by Mr Evert Bopp, serial entrepreneur and founder of a number of business support programmes across Ireland.
Mr Bopp stated:-
“In the run-up to the general elections I have studied the economic and social environment of North Tipperary again and what I saw was worrying. Jobs were being lost at an alarming rate, businesses were closing at an alarming rate and 3 years into the depressions there was still no cohesive action being taken to address this trend. The Nenagh Open Coffee Club is a grassroots approach to tackling these problems by bringing entrepreneurs, innovators, investors and other like-minded people together and in a informal surroundings we will create an environment of sharing and exchange. This has proven to lead to a more productive and healthier business community. People learn from each other and eventually deals are done. This is not a hard-sell or a pitching event. I am looking forward to meeting lots of members of the North Tipperary business community on March 12th and hope that some of the representatives of public sector organisation, as well as politicians that I have invited, will also deem the event worthy of their presence.“
More details are available here or by phone at: 086/8645099.
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