A row erupted at the Moriarty Tribunal this afternoon between the Chairman and lawyers representing the three parties that were shareholders in Esat Digifone.
The row began when Eoin Fitzsimons representing the Norwegian Company Telenor accused the Tribunal of unfairly attacking civil servant witnesses.
Both counsel for Denis O'Brien and Dermot Desmond said they agreed with Mr Fitzsimons.
Mr Justice Moriarty accused the lawyers of engaging in a concerted attack and he went on to give a staunch defence of the progress of the Tribunal.
He said he believed remarks that there had been a prosecution of witnesses were regrettable, unfounded and utterly incorrect.
However the Chairman later withdrew his contention that there was a concerted attack going on.
He also revealed that Dermot Desmond had on several occasions personally complained to him about the tack the Tribunal is taking.
Loughrey cross examined at Moriarty Tribunal
Earlier today a former civil servant accused counsel for the Moriarty Tribunal of engaging in an incredible outburst and said he could not agree with one iota of what had been said.
The clash between former Secretary of the Department of Communications, John Loughrey and Senior Counsel John Coughlan came when Mr Coughlan put it to the witness that Esat had managed to get the Department 'onside'.
John Loughrey rejected a suggestion that the Department of Comunications behaved more like a commercial facilitator rather than the administrator of a state asset, when it awarded the second GSM licence in 1996.
Mr Loughrey, the former Secretary of the Department, was being questioned about department moves, just as the awarding of the licence was imminent, to reduce businessman Dermot Desmond's shareholding in Esat from 25% to 20%.
The Department was keen to get this reduction because they wanted the winning bid to conform to the shareholding outlined in Esat's original application.
Mr Loughrey accepted that the licence was being traded even before it had been awarded. He was referring to the fact that Dermot Desmond set a price whereby he would sell his extra 5% back to Telenor and Esat.
But Mr Loughrey said the 'grey market' was a reality and he didn't see anything particularly shocking about it.
Mr Loughrey has also reiterated that neither he nor any other civil servants ever had the slightest intention to mislead Alan Dukes or any other TD.
He was being questioned about briefing material which was prepared for Mr Dukes when he replaced Michael Lowry as minister for Communications in 1996. The material omitted any reference to those successful attempts to get Mr Desmond's shareholding reduced to 20%.
