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Irish Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Leslie Buckley and Denis O'Brien try to rewrite history over INM data breach saga
The decision of the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) not to bring any enforcement action on foot of its six-year long investigation into data breaches and other issues at Independent News and Media (INM) has drawn a predictable response from Denis O'Brien and Leslie Buckley . O'Brien was the largest shareholder in INM – now Mediahuis Ireland – and Buckley was the chairman at the time of the data breaches which were revealed after the company's chief executive Robert Pitt and chief financial officer Ryan Preston made protected disclosures to the CEA's predecessor – the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE). They raised several issues that concerned them about Buckley's stewardship of the media organisation. O'Brien and Buckley have seized on the decision not to prosecute – disclosed in the authority's annual report last week and a year after High Court inspectors appointed to investigate the issues raised by Pitt and Preston found no breach of company law – to wholeheartedly rubbish the CEA and its chief executive Ian Drennan. Buckley said there were 'serious questions' over the way the investigation was conducted by the ODCE including seeking the appointment of High Court inspectors in 2018. He said that the ODCE adopted 'a highly questionable approach, to say the least', in not meeting him before seeking the appointment. READ MORE 'The taxpayer could have been saved in excess of €5.6 million and €40 million overall in legal costs,' according to Buckley. [ Enforcement authority's costly INM probe leaves unanswered questions Opens in new window ] O'Brien took a similar line saying: 'Mr Drennan's conduct showed little respect for due process, proper procedures or basic objectivity. As a result, he inflicted and facilitated very significant reputational damage for several individuals over six years.' History tends to be written by the victors and Buckley and O'Brien are both entitled to put their spin on the decision not to prosecute. They would be foolish not to take the opportunity when it presented itself. But some facts are worth remembering, not least that Buckley welcomed the appointment of the High Court inspectors in 2018. 'I welcome the opportunity to vindicate my good name through the inspection process,' said Buckley in a statement at the time. 'I intend to robustly defend myself against each and every allegation. I continue to reserve my position.' It was open to Buckley – who had stepped down as chairman of INM at that stage – to challenge the appointment on the basis of what he now describes as the 'highly questionable' decision not to talk to him first. But he didn't. INM did challenge the appointment robustly saying that it was unnecessary and damaging. They lost. The Judge in the case – Peter Kelly – concluded that Drennan and the ODCE had met six of the 10 criteria necessary for the appointment of an inspector. It was a slam dunk and INM decided not to appeal the decision. [ Leslie Buckley questions way that corporate enforcer investigated INM saga Opens in new window ] O'Brien was not a party to the proceedings, but he, too, could presumably have objected to what he now describes as Drennan's lack of 'due process, proper procedures or basic objectivity'. Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, Buckley may regret his decision not to oppose the appointment but last week's more-in-sorrow-than-anger tone and why-didn't-you-just-come-and-talk-to-me-first spiel doesn't really fly six years later. What does hold up is the report of the two inspectors appointed to the company by the High Court, Seán Gillane SC and Richard Fleck CBE, which upheld Pitt and Preston's version of events and was highly critical of Buckley. They found that he was in breach of his responsibilities as a director, but crucially they concluded his actions were not done to prefer the interests of O'Brien over the other shareholders in the company including businessman Dermot Desmond. They found that Buckley failed to tell the board that Island Capital – O'Brien's personal investment company – had been engaged to advise on the sale of INM's Australian interest and was in line for a €4 million payout. Not disclosing this was 'was inconsistent with his responsibility as a director to disclose material facts', according to the inspectors. The payment was not made in the end. They also found that Buckley should not have involved himself to the extent that he did in the proposed purchase of the radio station Newstalk from O'Brien by INM. That transaction did not go through either. With regard to the extensive external trawls of INM's emails organised by Buckley in 2016 that were the central to the inspectors' investigation, their report concluded; 'It is clear that Mr Buckley's disclosure of confidential information to Mr O'Brien after August 2016 was not in compliance with the company's policies and, in particular, the terms of the memorandum [not to disclose confidential INM information] that he signed,' they said. The report found that O'Brien did not misuse the information provided to him by Buckley. They also concluded Buckley did not break company law. This finding ensured that no criminal proceedings against Buckley were likely to ensue and last week's low-key announcement to that effect by the CEA was inevitable as was the twist put on it by Buckley. It might have been a better idea to keep the head down and take the win.
Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Denis O'Brien says it is time to question ‘conduct' of corporate enforcement chief
Businessman Denis O'Brien has criticised the State's business law watchdog over the years-long Independent News & Media (INM) investigation, saying the time had come to question the 'role and conduct' of Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) chief executive Ian Drennan . Mr O'Brien was INM's main shareholder when it was rocked by turmoil over an unlawful breach of company data relating to 19 named individuals, among them journalists and former company officials, some of whom had come into conflict with him. The disruption in INM, Ireland's largest newspaper business, led to its sale in 2019 to Belgian group Mediahuis. That deal crystallised a loss exceeding €450 million for Mr O'Brien on his INM investment. Mr Drennan ran the CEA's predecessor, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, when it asked the High Court in 2018 to send inspectors into the company. READ MORE In a statement, Mr O'Brien said: 'Mr Drennan's failure to engage in due process and interview all relevant parties before heading to the High Court in 2018 in undue and irrational haste calls into question his continued suitability for the position. 'Mr Drennan's conduct showed little respect for due process, proper procedures or basic objectivity. As a result, he inflicted and facilitated very significant reputational damage for several individuals over six years.' [ Leslie Buckley questions way that corporate enforcer investigated INM saga Opens in new window ] Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke , who has political responsibility for the CEA, had no comment on Mr O'Brien's remarks, citing CEA independence of the Government in its work. Asked whether Mr Burke had confidence in Mr Drennan, his department said: 'Yes. The Minister has confidence in Ian Drennan as the sole appointed member of the CEA.' Mr O'Brien was responding to the CEA decision not to take enforcement action over the data breach. The decision was set out on Thursday in its 2024 annual report. How the wealthy are buying up land to avoid inheritance tax Listen | 22:03 That followed on from a report 12 months ago by court inspectors who found after a six-year investigation that INM affairs were not conducted in breach of the Companies Acts. Still, inspectors Seán Gillane SC and UK solicitor Richard Fleck reported 'technical' breaches of the Data Protection Acts. They also found inside information was disclosed to Mr O'Brien by Leslie Buckley, the long-time ally who represented his interests as INM chairman. Mr O'Brien said: 'Mr Drennan took a deliberate decision not to engage with or interview several parties, including myself, who could have provided him with answers to his questions and saved the State and other parties in excess of €40 million. 'His failure to make any reference to this element of the debacle in the annual report speaks for itself.' There was no response from Mr Drennan's office to Mr O'Brien's statement by the close of business on Friday evening. Mr Buckley, the former INM chairman, had criticised Mr Drennan in similar terms on Thursday. Responding on Friday to Mr Buckley, the CEA said: 'As detailed in the annual report, the application to the High Court in this case followed a lengthy investigation and, despite being robustly resisted by the company, satisfied the High Court that the evidential threshold necessary to warrant the appointment of court-appointed inspectors had been fully met and the court's jurisdiction engaged.'
Irish Independent
05-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Denis O'Brien launches blistering attack on Corporate Enforcement Authority chief over INM probe
The high-profile businessman said the country's top corporate watchdog's position should be 'called into question'. Mr O'Brien issued a statement after the CEA said in its annual report that the final costs associated with the INM investigation stood at €5.82m. Reacting yesterday, Mr O'Brien said the true financial cost is closer to €40m. He claimed the costly High Court process could have been avoided if the CEA, under Ian Drennan's leadership, had conducted the investigation itself. Mr O'Brien said Mr Drennan had failed to interview him and others before escalating an initial investigation of complaints about governance at INM – at a time when Mr O'Brien was the biggest shareholder – into a High Court inspection. That more formal process saw barrister Sean Gillane SC and UK solicitor Robert Fleck appointed by the High Court in 2018 at the request of the CEA as inspectors to investigate a number of claims including that Leslie Buckley, as INM's then chairman, acted improperly in ways to benefit Mr O'Brien. Mr Drennan took a deliberate decision not to engage with or interview several parties The High Court-appointed inspectors' report took six years, in part because of Covid, and was published in July last year. It made a number of criticisms but the 868-page report concluded no corporate laws had been breached at INM. The CEA then opted to take no further action. 'It is now time for the role and conduct of the director, Mr Ian Drennan, to be called into question,' Mr O'Brien said. 'Mr Drennan took a deliberate decision not to engage with or interview several parties, including myself, who could have provided him with answers to his questions and saved the State and other parties in excess of €40m.' The publication of the report from the CEA was 'most noteworthy for its failure to make any reference to its own conduct in matters relating to Independent News & Media, [INM]', Mr O'Brien said. In the foreword to the annual report, Mr Drennan confirmed the CEA had taken the decision not to bring any enforcement action against any of the people whose actions at the then stock market-listed INM had been subject to the inspection. However, in his report, Mr Drennan said that would not mean his agency is less likely to seek a similar process in future in relation to another company if he believed CEA powers of inquiry fell short of what was required to investigate potential corporate wrongdoing. The inspectors ultimately found former INM chairman Mr Buckley did pass confidential information to Mr O'Brien in a way that was not compliant with the company's policies and the terms of a memorandum he signed in 2016 but that he did not break company law.
Irish Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Leslie Buckley questions way that corporate enforcer investigated INM saga
Former Independent News & Media (INM) chairman Leslie Buckley has hit out at the State's corporate watchdog after it quietly closed the file on long inquiries into the governance scandal in the company. The Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA), led by chief executive Ian Drennan, on Thursday ended 12 months of silence on a High Court report into INM, now Mediahuis Ireland , by saying it had resolved not to take enforcement action over the affair. At issue was an unlawful breach of company data relating to 19 named individuals, among them journalists and former company officials. Some had come into conflict with the main INM shareholder at the time, Denis O'Brien. Mr Buckley was a close business associate of Mr O'Brien and represented his interests as chairman of INM. Mr Buckley said there were 'serious questions' over the investigation because the CEA's predecessor – the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) – heard only one side of the story before seeking the High Court inspection. READ MORE 'It is regrettable that the director did not offer me the opportunity of a meeting or an interview prior to initiating the High Court inspection process,' Mr Buckley said in response to questions from The Irish Times about the CEA decision. [ Leslie Buckley files court action against Allianz Opens in new window ] 'This is a highly questionable approach, to say the least, from an organisation that holds itself out as a custodian of good corporate practice.' INM was the publisher of the Irish Independent and Sunday Independent, among other titles. The affair was highly damaging to its reputation, culminating in IMM's takeover by Mediahuis of Belgium in 2019. INM blamed Mr Buckley for the affair and started court action against him but he always denied any wrongdoing. His statement said the then ODCE never met him before seeking the inspection, but met with former INM chief executive Robert Pitt and former chief financial officer Ryan Preston. The CEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr Buckley's remarks. 'I was not afforded an opportunity to meet with the ODCE in relation to that or any other matters, so the ODCE did not hear both sides of the story,' Mr Buckley said. 'Had the director done so, that may have given him pause for thought. The ODCE may well have received advice not to proceed with a High Court-appointed inspection process and in doing so, saved the taxpayer in excess of €5.6 million and €40 million overall in legal costs.' Senior counsel Seán Gillane and UK solicitor Richard Fleck were appointed in 2018 by then High Court president, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, to investigate INM after confidential disclosures from Mr Pitt and Mr Preston. The court was told INM backup computer tapes went to third parties for 'data interrogation' relating to 19 people. Among them were journalists Sam Smyth, Brendan O'Connor and Maeve Sheehan, and former INM chief executive Vincent Crowley. The 19 also included two Moriarty Tribunal barristers during its investigation into the award to Mr O'Brien of the State's second mobile phone licence 30 years ago. The inspectors made their final report last July, saying 'technical breaches of the Data Protection Acts by INM were established' and that inside information was disclosed to Mr O'Brien by Mr Buckley. However, they found such matters did not amount to the affairs of INM being conducted in breach of the Companies Acts. They said it would not be appropriate to 'speculate' on how the interrogation of data came to include the 19 names. Mr Drennan's office published the report on July 31st, 2024. But in the months since then it repeatedly declined to say what action, if any, would be taken on foot of the conclusions. The CEA finally set out its stance on Thursday in its 2024 annual report: 'Having considered the matter with great care and deliberation, the CEA ultimately determined that enforcement action will not be taken arising from the report.' There was no comment from Mediahuis Ireland. Mr O'Brien's spokesman also declined to comment.
Irish Independent
02-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Final cost of INM High Court inspection was €5.82m
The bill includes €481,000 of legal and other costs in 2024, the year the long running corporate probe ended with the publication of an 868-page report. It does not include costs to other parties involved in the case. The costs include fees paid to Irish barrister Sean Gillane SC and UK solicitor Robert Fleck, who as inspectors investigated a series of claims including that Leslie Buckley, as INM's then chairman, acted improperly in ways to benefit businessman Denis O'Brien, who was then a 29.9pc shareholder in INM. Concerns raised at the time the report was published suggesting the final cost to taxpayers might multiply proved wide of the mark, according to Ian Drennan, CEO of the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA). He was writing in the introduction to the agency's annual report for last year which was published on July 2nd. 'In the immediate aftermath of the publication of the Inspectors' Report, it was suggested in media commentary that the Inspection might ultimately cost the State in excess of €40m. The actual cost of the Inspection was €5.82m and no additional expenditures or liabilities that might increase that amount in any meaningful way have eventuated since that time,' he wrote. The CEA took the decision not to bring any enforcement action against any of the people who's actions at the then stock market listed INM had been subject to the inspection. However, in his report, Ian Drennan said that would not mean his agency is less likely to seek a similar process in future in relation to another company where it believed its powers of investigation fell short of what was required to investigate potential corporate wrongdoing. 'Should circumstances arise in the future in which the CEA were to take the view that an application to the High Court for the appointment of Inspectors was warranted, the CEA would not hesitate to do so,' he wrote. The final inspectors report included important lessons on the standards of governance expected by the law, he said. The six-year investigation by High Court inspectors into allegations of wrongdoing at Independent News and Media (INM) ultimately found its former chairman. Leslie Buckley, did pass confidential information to Denis O'Brien in a way that was not compliant with the company's policies and the terms of a memorandum he signed in 2016 but that he did not break company law. The probe was launched after allegations made by INM's then former CEO Robert Pitt, and Ryan Preston, its chief finance officer, about Mr Buckley's conduct as INM chairman. The inspectors' report made some criticisms of Mr Buckley's conduct but did not uphold the allegations that he broke company law or had tried to use INM resources to benefit Mr O'Brien to the detriment of INM's other shareholders.
