INDEPENDENT News Media (INM) has proposed the appointment of four new non-executive directors to the board, including Cork businessman and former representative of Denis O’Brien on the INM board, Leslie Buckley.

Mr Buckley, who is the vice-chairman of international mobile phone operator Digicel, helped manage the start-up of the Esat Telecom Group and Esat Digifone with Mr O’Brien. At an agm in June 2011, Mr Buckley’s nomination for re-election to the INM board was defeated by shareholders.

If he is reappointed, the representation of Denis O’Brien on the INM board will be restored to three nominees, consistent with his 29.9 per cent shareholding. Mr O’Brien’s other representatives are board members Paul Connolly and Lucy Gaffney. The other proposed non-executive directors are Jerome Kennedy, Triona Mullane and Len O’Hagan.

Mr Kennedy was a managing partner at KPMG Ireland from 1995 to 2004. He is also a non-executive director on the board of Total Produce.

Ms Mullane is the former chief technology officer of NewBay Software and a former director of engineering and vice-president of technology at Logica.

Mr O’Hagan has been chairman of Belfast Harbour Commissioners since 2006. He has also held senior positions at Fitzwilton, Jefferson Smurfit Group and Safeway Ireland.

If the nominees are appointed, the board will have 10 directors, six of whom will be independent non-executives.

The company said it would hold an extraordinary general meeting on August 27th in respect of the proposed appointment to the board of the new non-executive directors. If approved, the appointments would be effective immediately.

The board would then agree the filling of those key board roles which are presently vacant, namely the chairmanship and the role of senior independent director, the company said in a statement yesterday.

INM has yet to appoint a chairman following the departure of James Osborne, who was ousted from the board alongside Donal Buggy at the June agm. Their exit followed the resignation of former chief executive Gavin O’Reilly and the retirement of three other directors.

Since the agm, David Reid Scott has resigned from the board, while Allan Marshall and Terry Buckley have been appointed, leaving it with six members.

INM’s other board members at present are chief executive Vincent Crowley and Frank Murray.

The services of head-hunting firm Amrop were used in identifying and selecting the nominees according to a spokesman. Amrop was previously commissioned by the HSE to conduct an international search for candidates for the post of HSE chief executive.

Last week the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland said it had decided not to take action in relation to the media interests of Mr O’Brien. However, a spokesman said further changes to the INM board, might prompt the authority to re-examine the businessman’s holdings if his ownership went above 30 per cent.

New direction: Proposed directors for the board of INM

Leslie Buckley

Cork businessman Leslie Buckley is a long-time business associate of Denis O’Brien, having helped with the start-up of Mr O’Brien’s Esat Telecom Group and Esat Digifone.

Mr Buckley is currently executive chairman of online recruitment company Saongroup, and vice-chairman of Digicel. He is also the nominee for the Minister of Transport on the board of Aer Lingus.

In March 2009, he was appointed as one of three representatives of Mr O’Brien on the board of Independent News Media. He served in this non-executive directorship position until he was ousted at INM’s agm in June of last year.

When asked earlier this year if he thought he would ever serve on the board of INM again, he said: “I haven’t really given it any thought, but I never say never.”

Jerome Kennedy

Jerome Kennedy is a former managing partner of “big four” accountancy firm KPMG Ireland. In that capacity he provided audit and advisory services to a range of Irish companies and Irish subsidiaries of multinationals.

Mr Kennedy has considerable directorial experience, having served on the boards of both public and private companies.

Between July 2007 and April 2012, he was a member of the court of Bank of Ireland, chairing the audit committee.

He is currently serving as a non-executive director at Total Produce. He is also a director of several private companies including Caulfield McCarthy.

Triona Mullane

Triona Mullane’s expertise lies in the field of technology. She has held a number of senior roles including chief technology officer for NewBay Software (2007 to 2011). Before that she served as chief technology officer for Anam Mobile. Between 1995 and 2003, she was director of engineering and then vice president of technology at Logica.

Len O’Hagan

Len O’Hagan has chaired the Belfast Harbour Commissioners since 2006. He ran Jefferson Smurfit’s waste paper operations in the North before becoming Michael Smurfit’s personal assistant in 1984.

In 1990, he was headhunted by Sir Anthony O’Reilly’s Fitzwilton investment vehicle, where he was involved in the Wellworths retail business in Northern Ireland.

After leaving Fitzwilton, he and a business partner took a licence from Waterford Crystal to manufacture Christmas products in China. Until 2008, he was a member of the advisory board of Independent News Media (Northern Ireland), a subsidiary of INM.