The final report by two inspectors appointed to investigate the governance scandal at the former Independent News & Media is expected to be provided to the High Court on Thursday.
The inspectors, following a six-year investigation, earlier this year circulated confidential draft findings to individuals against whom any adverse findings may be made, seeking any observations they may have on those findings.
Following that process, the inspectors finalised their report and will put it before the High Court’s Mr Justice Garrett Simons on Thursday.
Senior counsel Seán Gillane SC and UK solicitor Richard Fleck were appointed in 2018 by the then High Court president, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, to carry out the inspection in the wake of an unlawful breach of company data when businessman Denis O’Brien was the main shareholder in INM.
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The application for appointment of the inspectors was made by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, now the Corporate Enforcement Agency.
The court was told that backup computer tapes from INM ended up in the hands of third parties for ‘data interrogation’
The data breach raised serious questions over the conduct of then INM chairman Leslie Buckley, who represented Mr O’Brien’s interests in the company. Mr Buckley has always denied any wrongdoing.
In 2021, the High Court refused an application by Mr Buckley to have the inspectors removed, after rejecting assertions that draft statements from the inspectors raised the issue of objective bias.
INM, now known as Mediahuis Ireland, has consistently refrained from commenting on the investigation, pointing out that it is under a duty of confidentiality throughout the statutory process.
Mr O’Brien became the dominant INM shareholder after wresting control of the business from the late Sir Anthony O’Reilly. Mr O’Brien incurred a loss of more than €400 million when selling his INM shares to Mediahuis of Belgium in 2019.
When appointing the inspectors in September 2018, Mr Justice Kelly expressed concern over conduct “suggestive of an unlawful purpose” to benefit Mr O’Brien.
The court was told that backup computer tapes from INM ended up in the hands of third parties for “data interrogation” relating to 19 named individuals, among them journalists and former company officials, some of whom had come into conflict with Mr O’Brien.
INM, now known as Mediahuis Ireland, has consistently refrained from commenting on the investigation
They included two barristers who worked for the Moriarty Tribunal during its investigation into the award to Mr O’Brien of the State’s second mobile phone licence in the 1990s.
Mr Justice Kelly said the data interrogation took place “at the direction of Mr Buckley”. The INM data was accessed by parties with links to Mr Buckley, and one of Mr O’Brien’s companies paid for the analysis.
The inspectors were also asked to examine a plan for INM to buy out Newstalk, a radio station then under Mr O’Brien’s control. The plan was scrapped after INM’s then chief executive, Robert Pitt, complained of pressure from Mr Buckley to pay an inflated price for Newstalk.
Also under investigation was a proposal, later dropped, for INM to pay about €1 million to one of Mr O’Brien’s companies for work “allegedly done” on the sale of shares in APN, an Australian group. Mr Pitt claimed no services were provided.
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