Combined salaries top €3 million

THE EXECUTIVE directors of The Irish Times Ltd and the non-executive chairmen of The Irish Times Ltd and The Irish Times Trust…

THE EXECUTIVE directors of The Irish Times Ltd and the non-executive chairmen of The Irish Times Ltd and The Irish Times Trust shared remuneration last year of €3.02 million, up from an equivalent sum of €2.94 million for 2006.

Remuneration included salaries of €1.52 million, up from €1.48 million a year earlier, and pension contributions rose to €786,000 from €754,000. The value of benefits-in-kind was €111,000. Performance-related pay rose to €611,000 from €600,000.

Editor Geraldine Kennedy and managing director Maeve Donovan were the highest paid executive directors. Their salaries both stood at €380,000 at the end of 2007, up from €362,000. Deputy managing director Liam Kavanagh had a salary of €290,000. The salary of deputy editor Paul O'Neill was €194,000.

David Went, chairman of The Irish Times Ltd, received €108,000. Prof David McConnell, chairman of The Irish Times Trust, received €52,000. The Irish Times Ltd, publisher of The Irish Times, is ultimately controlled by the The Irish Times Trust. The figure for 2007 includes the remuneration to former executive director Eoin McVey, a managing editor of the paper and now a member of the Press Council of Ireland.