The convicted sex offender Tim Allen has made a public apology and announced that he will immediately severe his links with all of his family's world-renowned Ballymaloe businesses in Co Cork.
The TV chef convicted last week for possession of child pornography said yesterday he would live with the shame for the rest of his life.
Allen (52) was sentenced to 240 hours of community service and agreed to pay €40,000 to a child welfare charity after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography at Midletown District Court last Thursday.
The case has continued to generate intense public outrage at the perceived leniency of the sentence Allen received.
Allen operated the successful Ballymaloe Cookery School with his wife, Darina, and the family also owns the Ballymaloe House Hotel and other related businesses. His conviction has led to people cancelling their scheduled attendance at the school.
The family broke its silence on the matter in a candid statement issued yesterday, expressing its absolute abhorrence of child pornography and saying Allen's continuation in its business would not serve the enterprise or the hundreds of jobs dependent on it.
It said that following family discussions in which Allen participated, it was decided he shall "for the foreseeable future cease all connection and involvement" with the cookery school, the Ballymaloe House Hotel and all other related businesses.
In coming to this decision, the family expressed its "deep concern and sense of shame at the notion that the conviction of Tim was in any way viewed by them as a trivial matter.
"They wish to make known their absolute abhorrence of child pornography in any form and express their deepest regret at the hurt that has been caused to so many people by the perception that this might not be the case."
The statement, issued by Pat Heneghan Public Relations, concluded with the comment from Allen that: "What I did was wrong. I am deeply sorry and I will live with the shame of it for the rest of my life. I greatly appreciate the loving support of my wife and family. I unreservedly apologise for what I did."
However, the director of the Cork Rape Crisis Centre, Ms Mary Crilly, said the statement "seemed like damage limitation" for commercial reasons. She said the centre had received up to 40 calls over the weekend from people who were angry about the sentence handed down to Allen and the family's handling of the issue.