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.
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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 sagaOpens 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.
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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.”
