A "fraught" meeting took place between government adviser Mr Seán Donlon and executives in Independent News & Media following Mr John Bruton's meeting with Sir Anthony O'Reilly in west Cork in late July 1996.
Mr Bruton told Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal, that he could not remember if he had been told subsequently by Mr Donlon that the executives had said Mr Michael Lowry was a "persona non-grata" with Independent newspapers.
At the meeting in INP's offices on Hatch Street, Dublin, Mr Donlon met Mr Liam Healy and other executives of INP. Mr Donlon, who is to give evidence, is to say the deflector issue was the main issue discussed, Mr Coughlan said. He said Mr Lowry had also submitted a statement of intended evidence on this issue.
He would say he was told the meeting was a "most difficult meeting" and that some "very harsh" comments had been made about the government and individual ministers. It was unclear from yesterday's proceedings which INP executives other than Mr Healy attended.
Mr Lowry would say that Fine Gael ministers were briefed about the meeting with the INP executives. Mr Bruton said this was possible. "They would have been interested because of who he is and the newspapers he is associated with," Mr Bruton said, referring to Sir Anthony. Mr Bruton said he was certain that Mr Donlon would have reported back to him but he had no recollection of the briefing. Mr Donlon reported to ministers on September 5th, 1996.
Mr Coughlan also said that Mr Lowry would say Mr Donlon expressed concern that the government was being "held over a political barrel". Mr Bruton said he had no recollection of that being said.
Mr Bruton said he did recall being told that the discussions with the INP executives had been "fairly fraught" but he did not recall when he was told.
Mr Coughlan said there was no need to go into the front page headline carried on the Irish Independent on June 6th, 1997, the day of the general election. "It was an editorial on the front page, an innovation for that particular newspaper," Mr Bruton said. Mr Bruton told Mr John O'Donnell SC, for the Department of Communications, that he had no reason to doubt the independence and integrity of the civil servants who had worked on the mobile phone licence competition. He regarded the integrity of the Irish public service to be one of the most important elements of Irish democracy. The Irish public service was non-political and "extremely trustworthy", though it was perhaps sometimes slow in its decision making.
The tribunal resumes today with a new witness.