Denis O'Brien
Denis O'Brien | |
---|---|
![]() O'Brien in 2014 | |
Born | |
Education | The High School, Dublin |
Alma mater | |
Occupation | Businessman |
Known for | Chairman and Founder ofDigicel Group |
Title | Executive ChairmanDigicel |
Spouse |
Catherine Walsh (m.1997) |
Children | 4 |
Denis O'Brien(born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner ofDigicel.[1][2]He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for several years.[2][3]His business interests have also extended to aircraft leasing (Aergo Capital), utilities support (Actavo), petroleum (Topaz Energy),football(a minority shareholder ofCeltic F.C.), and healthcare (Beacon Hospital[4]). As former chairman of theEsat Digifoneconsortium, O'Brien was questioned by theMoriarty Tribunal,which investigated the awarding of a mobile phone licence to Esat, among other things.
In 2021, O'Brien sold his stake in Communicorp[5]and the Pacific operations of Digicel. O'Brien engages in various philanthropic activities, including being on the board ofConcern Worldwide,founding the Iris O'Brien Foundation and establishing a fellowship atBoston College.In 2019, O'Brien earned the Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Irish-US Council.
Early life
[edit]O'Brien was born on 19 April 1958[6]inCorkcity. He has one brother and two sisters,[1]and grew up in theBallsbridgearea ofDublin.[7]His father created a medical supply company and later a horse nutrition business.[7]As a child, Denis accompanied his father on business trips, where he learned how to close sales.[1]He attendedThe High SchoolinRathgar,where he was once suspended for three months, until the school asked him back to participate in arugbychampionship.[1]His first job was as a hotel bellhop at age 14, and he started working on building cleaning jobs at 15.[1]
In 1977, O'Brien received aBAin politics, history and logic atUniversity College Dublin.[8]While attending UCD, he received a scholarship to attendBoston College,where he completed anMBA.
Career
[edit]Early stages
[edit]Upon his return to Dublin, O'Brien was employed at a small investment bank, Trinity Bank, but he left that job to become apersonal assistanttoTony Ryan,owner of an aircraft leasing company.[1]
Communications and media
[edit]O'Brien has spent most of his career in the communications technology andmass mediaindustries. He has also been a part owner of energy,aerospace,and industrial service companies.
Communicorp
[edit]O'Brien was until early 2021 the owner of Communicorp,[9]a media holding company operating across Europe. He started the company in Ireland in 1989,[10][11]where it has owned independent radio stations likeNewstalkandToday FM.[12][13]The company expanded to markets inEastern Europeancountries, later selling some of its stations to local operators.[14][15]In 2014, Communicorp expanded to theUnited Kingdom,acquiring eight radio stations across the country;[16]in 2017, Communicorp moved its UK radio stations to a new independent company, Communicorp UK, of which O'Brien owns 98% of the shares.[17]In February 2021, O'Brien sold Communicorp to Bauer Media Audio for approximately €100 million.[18]
Esat Telecom and Esat Digifone
[edit]In 1991, O'Brien formed a telecommunications consortium called Esat Telecom to compete with the state-ownedTelecom Eireann.[19]In partnership withTelenor,Norway's state telecom operator, Esat formedEsat Digifone,which made a successful bid for Ireland's second GSM mobile licence.[20][21]Circumstances around the awarding of the licence to Esat Digifone became the subject of theMoriarty Tribunal.[22][23]
On 7 November 1997, Esat Telecom Group plc held an initial public offering and was listed on theIrish Stock Exchange,London Stock Exchange,andNASDAQ.[24]In 2000, Telenor made a bid for control of the company, but O'Brien sold it toBT,reportedly making €250 million from the sale.[25][26]
Aergo Capital
[edit]In 1999, O'Brien co-founded aircraft leasing company Aergo Capital, in which he owned an 80% stake. From its inception until 2014, Aergo traded more than 150 aircraft with a gross value of over €791 million (approximately $1 billion). In October 2014, O'Brien and his partner, Fred Browne, sold the company to CarVal, a US investment firm; Browne remained with the new company as CEO.[27]
Independent News & Media
[edit]In the late 2000s, O'Brien began purchasing shares of Independent News & Media (INM), ultimately spending an estimated €500 million to amass a 29.9% stake in the company.[28][29][30]O'Brien clashed with the company's board, especially former ownerTony O'Reilly,[31]who stepped down from his position as CEO in 2009 and sold most of his INM shares in 2014.[32]In April 2019, O'Brien andDermont Desmond,INM's second largest shareholder at the time, sold their shares to the Belgian media groupMediahuis;O'Brien reportedly received €43.5m as part of the deal.[33]
Although he never owned a majority stake in INM, O'Brien was at times accused of exerting significant influence at the company. In 2014, allegations arose that Stephen Rae, a group editor at INM, ordered amendments to a column bySunday Independenteditor Anne Harris that contained references to O'Brien.[34]In 2015, Paul Meagher, a solicitor for O'Brien, reportedly called INM solicitor Simon McAleese in 2012 to block a story related to environment ministerPhil Hogan.[35]
In March 2018, theOffice of the Director of Corporate Enforcement(ODCE) in Ireland applied to theHigh Courtof Ireland to appoint inspectors to Independent News and Media to investigate an allegeddata breach.[36]According to an affidavit filed by the ODCE, invoices for the data interrogation were discharged by Blaydon Limited.[37]
In June 2019, Independent News & Media was sold to the Belgian groupMediahuis[38]and de-listed from theEuronext Dublinexchange, thus ending O'Brien's involvement in the group. It was reported that he lost in excess of €450m in total on his INM investment.[28]
Digicel
[edit]In 2001, O'Brien founded Digicel, a telecom company that operates in theCaribbean,Central America,andAsia Pacific.Using the cash from his sale of Esat Telecom, O'Brien used Digicel to build a wireless network in Jamaica.[39]That same year, Digicel expanded into the South Pacific. As of 2022, Digicel operates in 25 countries.[40]
Along with Digicel, O'Brien created the Digicel Foundation, which has worked with local organizations to develop community services, build schools and health centers, and support recovery efforts.[41][42]After the2010 Haiti earthquake,O'Brien pledged €3.5 million to assist recovery efforts.[43][44]In 2012, PresidentMichel Martellyof Haiti awarded O'Brien with theNational Order of Honour and Meritfor his investments, contributions and promotion of the country,[45]and in 2015, O'Brien received honorary membership of theOrder of Jamaicafor his service to the country's telecommunications industry.[46]
In May 2020, Digicel filed for bankruptcy court reorganization and successfully sought adebt restructuringagreement.[47]A debt exchange was approved by the company's bondholders and took place in June 2020.[48]As part of the exchange, O'Brien agreed to contribute $50 million of assets to Digicel, including $25 million in cash and the company's Jamaican headquarters.[49]
In October 2021, Digicel announced the sale of its Pacific operations toTelstra Corp,an Australian telecommunications company.[50][51]Valued at US$1.85 billion, the sale was completed in July 2022, with Telstra agreeing to pay Digicel US$1.6 billion before adjustments and deductions. Telstra purchased all six Digicel Pacific markets, including Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu.[52][53][54]
Actavo
[edit]In 2012, O'Brien purchased Siteserv, a utilities support company, fromIBRCfor €45m; in 2015, the company was renamed Actavo.[55]Actavo was bought and controlled through O'Brien's firm Millington on the Isle of Man.[56]
In 2016, Actavo expanded into the United States through the purchase of Atlantic Engineering Services, a structural engineering firm.[57]Actavo was also involved in the installation of fibre networks for Digicel in the Caribbean.[58]
Topaz Energy
[edit]In December 2013, O'Brien purchased €300 million in debt owed by Topaz Energy to theIrish Bank Resolution Corporation.In December 2014, Topaz's parent company, Kendrick Investments, announced it would buy all ofEsso's Irish operations.[59][60]
In December 2015,Alimentation Couche-Tard,a Canadian convenience store company, announced that it planned to buy Topaz.[61]The sale was completed in February 2016; Topaz had more than 2,000 employees and close to 35% of the consumer market in Ireland at the time of the sale.[62]
Davos and bank directorships
[edit]O'Brien has attended theWorld Economic Forum's annual winter meeting inDavos, Switzerland,alongside other billionaires likeBill GatesandGeorge Soros.[63][64]
In 2000, O'Brien became a director of theBank of Ireland,and in September 2005, he was named a deputy governor of the bank. In September 2006, he resigned as both deputy governor and as a member of the bank's court (board).[65]O'Brien reportedly resigned due to increased demands related to his international business interests.[65]
Football
[edit]Between 2008 and 2016, O'Brien gave theFootball Association of Ireland(FAI) as much as €12 million to help pay the salaries of senior officials within the organisation, includingGiovanni Trapattoni.[66][67]In 2018, O'Brien was named Honorary Life President of the FAI.[68]
In 2006, O'Brien purchased a 2.82% stake in Glasgow-basedCeltic F.C.from a former manager of the club, Martin O'Neill.[69]As of June 2018, O'Brien reportedly had increased his ownership to 13%.[70]
Other business interests
[edit]In 1998, O'Brien purchased Planal SA, the holding company for theQuinta do Lagogolf resort inAlgarve,Portugal.[71]
Moriarty Tribunal
[edit]In 1997, the Moriarty Tribunal was established to look into allegations against two Irish politicians,Charles HaugheyandMichael Lowry.[72]After 14 years, the Tribunal's final report found, among other things, that Lowry, Ireland's then energy and communications minister, assisted O'Brien in his bid to secure a mobile phone contract for Esat Digifone.[72]The tribunal found that this happened afterFine Gaelreceived a $50,000 donation from O'Brien via a circuitous route, although the tribunal also acknowledged that the money was not intended as a payment. However, because the Tribunal was not a court of law, its findings were legally "sterile".[73]
In 2018, Michael Lowry won an appeal over the Moriarty Tribunal's legal costs. The appeal judges awarded Lowry 80% of his costs for the legal battle.[74][75]That same year, the High Court ruled that the State was not entitled to indemnity and contribution from O'Brien's telecommunications company regarding any loss that might arise from the granting of the country's second mobile phone licence in 1996.[76][77]In 2021, the High Court upheld the 2018 ruling after the State attempted to appeal it. Three judges unanimously dismissed the appeal and stated that O'Brien's telecommunications company was entitled to the legal costs of the appeal.[78][79][80]
Sam Smyth,a radio show host that aired on one of O'Brien's networks, claimed he was fired as a result of his reporting on the Moriarty Tribunal.[81]Today FM responded to the claim, stating that "the decision was made to address a decline in listenership and was part of an initiative to improve programming quality." The Today FM board supported the decision, which was one of several programming changes made by Willy O'Reilly.[82]
Relationship with the media
[edit]In 2012, O'Brien threatened to sue journalist and broadcasterVincent Browneover statements in Browne's articles that O'Brien claimed were defamatory.[83][84]
In February 2013, O'Brien sued theIrish Daily Mailfor defamation over his numerous appearances inRTÉnews reports on the relief effort after the Haiti earthquake. The court awarded O'Brien €150,000.[85]The case was the first time a journalist had attempted to use the honest opinion defence before a jury at the High Court since the Defamation Act 2009 became law.[86]
In August 2015, the editor-in-chief of the satirical websiteWaterford Whispers News,Colm Williamsonreceived a cease and desist order from O'Brien's solicitor to remove a satirical article about O'Brien.[87]Lawyers for O'Brien also demanded that a reprint of the story be removed from Broadsheet.ie.[88]Waterford Whispers News subsequently removed the article.[89]
In 2019, O'Brien began an action for defamation against theSunday Business Postover articles published in the newspaper in March 2015.[90]The articles, which centred around a confidential PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report given to the government in November 2008 on the exposure of Ireland's banks in 2008, identified O'Brien as being among the 22 biggest borrowers from Irish banks in 2008.[91]O'Brien claimed the articles defamed him and injured his reputation and also alleged malicious publication.[91]The jury found in the defendant's favour andJustice Bartondismissed the case with an order for costs against O'Brien.[91][92]
Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) debt
[edit]Through the acquisitions of Siteserv and Topaz Energy, O'Brien at one time held hundreds of millions of Euros in debt from the state-ownedIBRC.In February 2013, the IBRC went into liquidation, and shortly thereafter, O'Brien asked for an extension to repay an outstanding €320m in loans. O'Brien claimed that he had previously received verbal confirmation for a loan extension from former IBRC CEO Mike Aynsley, but Aynsley's position was terminated when the bank went into liquidation.[93]
The matter became public in May 2015, whenTDCatherine Murphyattempted to raise it in theDáil Éireann.[94]According to Murphy, O'Brien allegedly wrote to the IBRC's special liquidator, Kieran Wallace, seeking the repayment terms he had verbally secured from Aynsley; both Aynsley and O'Brien denied the claims.[95]
On 16 June 2015, O'Brien sued theHouses of the Oireachtas Commission,theGovernment of Irelandand theAttorney Generalover remarks made by Murphy andSinn FéinTDPearse Dohertyabout his banking affairs in the Dáil Éireann. O'Brien alleged that the remarks were a breach of parliamentary privilege that violated his constitutional rights and his rights under theEuropean Convention on Human Rights.[96][97]The Oireachtas Committee on Procedures and Privileges previously rejected O'Briens request to sanction Murphy over her allegations about his financial arrangements, which he claimed had breached parliamentary privilege.[98]
RTÉ injunction
[edit]In 2015, O'Brien and Kieran Wallace, the special liquidator who oversaw the liquidation of IBRC, successfully applied for aninjunctionin Ireland'sHigh Courtpreventing RTÉ from airing a report about his receipt of a low interest rate on loans from the IBRC.[99]Justice Donald Binchy, the High Court judge who granted the injunction, said that the public did not have the right to see confidential banking information of IBRC customers, and that RTÉ had failed to prove that the terms of the loan were handled improperly by the IBRC.[100]
After the judgment, several media outlets reported that Catherine Murphy had spoken, but did not provide any quotes or clips from her speech.[99]The Independent,owned by Independent News & Media, of which O'Brien then held a significant interest, reported, "Mr. O'Brien successfully stopped RTÉ from broadcasting" details about O'Brien's finances that Murphy had raised in the Daíl.[101]Several Irish media outlets ignored the injunction by publishing Murphy's comments or referring to their publication on theOireachtaswebsite.[102]
In mid-June 2015, Justice Binchy ruled that most of RTÉ's report on Denis O'Brien's financial relationship with the IBRC could be published.[103]On 17 June 2015, RTÉ published what it called "a curtailed version" of the story, claiming that two paragraphs of the original story could not be printed because they were still covered by the High Court's injunction. The article was accompanied by a timeline of events between February and June 2013.[93]
O'Brien defended the injunction in anIrish Timesop-ed piece, stating that he had been shocked that somebody took confidential files from a bank, altered them, and then leaked them to the press. He claimed to have been vilified by enemies, competitors, politicians, and others for trying to defend his privacy.[104]
IBRC Commission of investigation
[edit]On 10 June 2015, aCommission of investigationwas established to inquire into IBRC transactions that lost €10 million or more between 21 January 2009 and 7 February 2013.[105]The commission was initially chaired by retired High Court JudgeDaniel O'Keeffe,but in July 2015, Judge Brian Cregan replaced Judge O'Keeffe as the commission's chair and sole member.[106]The terms of the commission were updated in 2016 to focus first on IBRC's sale of Siteserv to O'Brien in 2012, based on claims by TD Catherine Murphy in theDaíl Éireann;Murphy was asked to appear before the commission in February 2019, several months after criticising the amount of time it had taken the commission to complete its inquiry, but as of May 2019, she had not made herself available for testimony.[107][108]In November 2019, Murphy announced that she would not appear before the commission because she was concerned that she would be required to reveal the source of her information.[109]
In September 2022, the commission released its final report on its investigation into the sale of Siteserv. The report stated that while the sale was "carried out in good faith," it was "based on misleading and incomplete information." However, the report went on to say that there was no evidence that O'Brien received favourable interest rates from the bank, as alleged by Catherine Murphy. It also stated that O'Brien was not at fault for going on a trip with Robert Dix, and there was no evidence to support the claim that O'Brien had an unduly close or unethical relationship with senior IBRC executives.[110][111]
Recognition
[edit]O'Brien received an honoraryDoctor of Lawdegree from his alma mater, UCD, in 2006.[8]
In 2019, the Irish-US Council awarded O'Brien the 2019 Award for Outstanding Achievement for his work building bonds between Ireland and the United States.[112]
Personal life
[edit]In August 1997, O'Brien married Catherine Walsh, who helped Communicorp expand into the Czech Republic and who earlier was the head of marketing for Independent Radio Sales.[113]The couple have four children.[1]One of his three sisters is the artistAbigail O'Brien,President of Irish arts body, theRoyal Hibernian Academy,for 2018–2023.[114]
Sponsorships and causes
[edit]In June 2000, O'Brien set up the Iris O'Brien Foundation, named after his mother, through which he coordinates many of his philanthropic efforts,[115][116]and has supported multiple charities and campaign groups, including the human rights groupFront Line Defenders.[7]Front Line Defenders was co-founded by O'Brien in 2001, to help protect human rights defenders globally, and O'Brien remains its chairman as of 2021[update].[117]
O'Brien supported the2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games,for which he was the chairman of the Games Organising Committee and later the Chairman of the Council of Patrons.[118][119][120]In 2004, O'Brien helped to establish the Digicel Foundation, which has funded thousands of projects in the Caribbean and Pacific.[117]
As of 2012, O'Brien was a member of the United States board ofConcern Worldwide,a humanitarian aid organisation.[121]O'Brien has worked with theClinton Global Initiative(CGI). Afterthe 2010 Haiti earthquake,O'Brien worked with CGI's Haiti Action Network and the Digicel Haiti Foundation to help rebuild theIron MarketinPort-au-Prince.[122][123]In 2010, O'Brien was named agoodwill ambassadorfor the city ofPort-au-Prince,Haiti,by MayorJean Yves Jason,who cited O'Brien's help with disaster recovery efforts after the earthquake.[124]In 2012, O'Brien received a Clinton Global Citizen Award from former U.S. President Bill Clinton, in large part due to his disaster relief efforts in Haiti.[44]He also contributed to building 50 primary and secondary schools in the 18 months following the earthquake.[45][125][126]In September 2016, thenRepublicanpresidential candidateDonald Trumpsent a campaign email criticising Hillary Clinton's relationship with O'Brien, about which O'Brien declined to comment.[127][128]
In 2015, O'Brien established a fully-funded fellowship for Irish students to receive an MBA degree from Boston College.[129][130]O'Brien has also been a member of theTrilateral Commission.[131][citation needed]
O'Brien donated €2,500 to the campaign ofindependentcandidateMary Davisfor the2011 Irish presidential election.[132]
Wealth and residences
[edit]As of February 2020,Forbesestimated O'Brien's wealth to be approximately $3.2 billion.[133]
Sometime after his purchase of Quinta do Lago in 1998, but before Esat Telecom's sale to BT in 2000, O'Brien sold his home in Dublin and established a primary residence inPortugal.[134]Media reports suggested that the move was spurred by a then-existing exemption tocapital gains taxin the Irish-Portuguese tax treaty, which reportedly would have saved O'Brien about €63 million in taxes.[134]However, in 2013, the High Court officially ruled that O'Brien's home was Quinta de Lago, Almancil, Portugal, and not Ireland, in the 2000/2001 tax year.[135]
While considering the flotation of Digicel on theNew York Stock Exchange,a March 2006 filing to theCompanies Registration Office(CRO) listed O'Brien's residential address asSliema,Malta.
Further reading
[edit]- Creaton, Siobhán.A Mobile Fortune: The Life and Times of Denis O'Brien.(Aurum Press, pp320).[136]
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- ^"Judge rules out State indemnity over mobile licence award".independent.August 2018.Retrieved13 October2022.
- ^"Court upholds indemnity decision on legal action over second mobile phone licence".BreakingNews.ie.December 2021.Retrieved13 October2022.
- ^Faolain, Aodhan O. (December 2021)."Court upholds indemnity ruling on legal action over country's second mobile phone licence".TheJournal.ie.Retrieved13 October2022.
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- ^"Today FM's Smyth changes topic during discussion about his own sacking".thejournal.ie. 16 October 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2015.
- ^Taylor, Charlie (16 October 2011)."Smyth show to end on Today FM".The Irish Times.Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2015.Retrieved16 October2011.
- ^Kealy, Willie (5 August 2012)."Denis O'Brien makes personal libel threat to Vincent Browne".Sunday Independent.
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- ^Gartland, Fiona (14 February 2013)."O'Brien awarded €150k in Daily Mail defamation case".The Irish Times.Irish Times Trust. Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2015.Retrieved14 February2013.
- ^"Denis O'Brien wins defamation case against Irish Daily Mail".RTÉ News.Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 14 February 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2015.Retrieved14 February2013.
- ^"Waterford Whispers News removes article after letter from Denis O'Brien's solicitors".Irish Examiner.7 August 2015.Retrieved22 April2020.
- ^"Denis O'Brien lawyers demand removal of broadsheet.ie article".The Irish Times.Retrieved8 August2015.
- ^"Waterford Whispers removes article after Denis O'Brien threat".The Irish Times.Retrieved13 October2022.
- ^O'Donnell, Orla (5 February 2019)."Denis O'Brien suing Sunday Business Post for defamation".RTÉ News.
- ^abcCarolan, Mary."Denis O'Brien loses defamation case against Sunday Business Post".The Irish Times.Retrieved12 April2020.
- ^O'Donnell, Orla (1 March 2019)."Denis O'Brien loses defamation action against SBP".RTÉ News.
- ^ab"Denis O'Brien sought more time to repay IBRC loans, citing an alleged verbal agreement with bank's former CEO".RTÉ.Dublin. 17 June 2015.Retrieved17 June2015.
- ^"Deputy Murphy Is Out Of Order".27 May 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 30 May 2015.
- ^Barry O'Keeffe;Cliff Taylor(28 May 2015)."Catherine Murphy makes Denis O'Brien claims in Dáil".Irish Times.Retrieved3 June2015.
O'Brien says information was false and claims were an abuse of Dáil privilege... Ms Murphy has previously claimed Mr O'Brien had written to IBRC's special liquidator Kieran Wallace seeking the same terms IBRC had allowed him, which was to "pay off his own loans in his own time at low interest rates". The sale of Siteserv to Mr O'Brien has become embroiled in controversy and is the subject of a formal review by the IBRC's liquidator. The terms under which the company, which carries out a wide variety of services, including water meter installation, was sold are part of that review. Separately, Mike Aynsley, the former chief executive of IBRC, released a lengthy statement, taking issue with other comments by Ms Murphy, who was moving a Private Members' Bill through the Dáil. The Bill's aim is to permit the Comptroller & Auditor General to investigate the Siteserv sale and other IBRC transactions.
- ^"O'Brien takes action over Dáil remarks on finances".RTÉ.16 June 2015.Retrieved18 June2015.
Mr O'Brien is seeking various declarations arising from speeches made in the Dáil, under privilege, by Independent TD Catherine Murphy and Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty.... Senior Counsel, Michael Cush told Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns that the proceedings were against the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, Ireland and the Attorney General.
- ^"Denis O'Brien launches legal action against Irish state over banking remarks".The Guardian.London. 16 June 2015.Retrieved17 June2015.
- ^Juno McEnroe; Ann Cahill (11 June 2015)."Oireachtas group rejects O'Brien's Dáil privilege abuse claim against Murphy".Irish Examiner.Retrieved18 June2015.
An Oireachtas committee has rejected demands from businessman Denis O'Brien to sanction Independent TD Catherine Murphy for making allegations about his bank deals in the Dáil. The Committee on Procedures and Privileges (CPP) also rejected claims the TD abused Dáil privilege when she made the claims. O'Brien wrote to Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett last month complaining Ms Murphy had made "false and inaccurate" statements about his personal banking arrangements.
- ^ab"Ireland's media silenced over MP's speech about Denis O'Brien".The Guardian.29 May 2015.
- ^Duffy, Rónán (3 June 2015)."Here's why RTÉ's news story about Denis O'Brien was blocked by the courts".TheJournal.ie.Retrieved14 October2020.
- ^Ryan, Philip (29 May 2015)."Murphy uses Dáil privilege to raise O'Brien finances".The Independent.
- ^Fiach Kelly; Fiona Gartland (30 May 2015)."Oireachtas sources believe Catherine Murphy did not break Dáil rules".Irish Times.Retrieved3 June2015.
Independent TD did not abuse privilege when commenting about Denis O'Brien... It is an unprecedented development that the mainstream media have been prevented from publishing privileged remarks in the Dáil due to the threat of legal action....Ms Murphy's comments in the Dáil were published on the Oireachtas website, and it is understood neither Mr O'Brien nor his representatives have contacted Oireachtas authorities....It is understood the application was contemplated in relation to the publication by the website Broadsheet.ie of the full statement made by Ms Murphy in the Dáil about Mr O'Brien's finances. It was contacted by solicitors on Thursday and asked to remove the post, claiming it was in breach of the High Court order in O'Brien v RTÉ. The site was given a deadline of 7pm, but did not remove the post.
- ^"Court rules most of O'Brien report can be broadcast".RTÉ.17 June 2015.Retrieved18 June2015.
Lawyers for Mr O'Brien said they were no longer opposing the publication of the script of the proposed report by RTÉ's Business Editor David Murphy. However, IBRC continued its objections to those parts of the script it said referred to legal advice. RTÉ agreed that one paragraph of the script should not be published, but argued that the issue of legal advice was already in the public domain due to remarks made byPearse Dohertyin the Dáil. Judge Binchy ruled there was a difference between what Doherty said in the Dáil and what was in the script and ruled the paragraph objected to by IBRC should not be published.
- ^Denis O'Brien (2 June 2015)."Denis O'Brien: 'I have never experienced this level of hatred'".Irish Times.Retrieved3 June2015.
What shocked me most of all was that someone would take files from a major Irish bank, tamper with them and leak them to RTÉ.... Many decent people who had loans transferred to Nama, or had loans with Anglo Irish Bank/IBRC were thrown to the wolves....I have known people who took their own lives, people who lost everything including their homes and their marriages. Also, many people who have had nervous breakdowns. The toll all this has taken on the "community" that makes up our country is quite shocking. I think it is regrettable that there is such a feeding frenzy to spread rumours and selectively leak information to point- score, challenge a competitor or simply do somebody down. It is done behind the cloak of secrecy and anonymity and the principle that "my enemy's enemy is my friend". Social media being used for this purpose is crowded with cowards. At a particular point in time when foreign multinationals were at their most nervous about their deposits in Irish banks I decided to be contrarian. I took a decision that Digicel would repatriate its cash deposits from US banks amounting to more than $600 million and place them with two Irish banks as a vote of confidence. Both banks asked my permission to tell a small number of foreign clients of this decision to help stop further outflows and this was granted. At that time, and subsequently, I was talking up Ireland internationally as a recovery story. I wanted to make a significant financial gesture of support at home. This was to show solidarity with Ireland but also to support the efforts of Minister for Finance Michael Noonan in stabilising the Irish banks and slow future outflow of deposits....
I have been dragged into a media frenzy because of RTÉ's attempts to publish my private bank details and Deputy Murphy's desire to distort them. I have never experienced the level of abuse, venom and hatred resulting from taking a stand to protect privacy in relation to my financial affairs. - ^Ryan, Órla (10 June 2015)."After several rows, Sinn Féin votes against IBRC inquiry – but it's still happening".TheJournal.ie.Retrieved14 October2020.
- ^McDonal, Dearbhail (9 September 2015)."Family first as High Court president to retire early".The Independent.Retrieved14 October2020.
- ^Carswell, Simon (11 May 2019)."Siteserv inquiry seeks to compel Catherine Murphy to appear over deal claims".The Irish Times.Retrieved14 October2020.
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- ^Strom, Stephanie (6 January 2012)."A Billionaire Lends Haiti a Hand".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved6 July2020.
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- ^O'Shea, James, ed. (8 June 2015)."Clinton's close friend Denis O'Brien battles massive criticism in Ireland".Irish Central.Retrieved14 March2016.
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- ^"Denis O'Brien establishes scholarship for Irish nationals to study business at Boston College".IrishCentral.11 April 2015.Retrieved7 June2021.
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External links
[edit]- 1958 births
- Businesspeople from Cork (city)
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