Disquiet at Denis O’Brien’s attendance at RTÉ retirement event for veteran broadcaster Tommie Gorman

BUSINESSMAN Denis O'Brien attended an RTÉ-organised retirement event for veteran broadcaster Tommie Gorman which was also attended by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Mr O'Brien’s attendance at the virtual event for RTÉ’s former Northern Editor on Monday is understood to have caused disquiet among some staff at the national broadcaster who were on the Zoom call.

Mr O’Brien is understood to have been invited by RTÉ and spoke briefly at the event, paying tribute to Mr Gorman, who retired from the station earlier this month.

“I've known Denis O’Brien for many, many years and there were a lot of people at that event who were in the very same category, people who I've known over many walks of life over many years,” Mr O’Gorman told Independent.ie on Wednesday.

RTÉ declined to comment. Mr O’Brien’s spokesman also declined to comment.

Mr Martin has been a strong critic of Mr O’Brien in the past. In 2015, the Fianna Fáil leader described Mr O’Brien’s legal proceedings against a Dáil committee as “a very serious threat to democracy”. In 2012, he criticised then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny for appearing with Mr O’Brien at the ringing of the New York Stock Exchange bell, saying the event should not have happened.

In response to queries on Wednesday, the Taoiseach’s spokesperson said: “The Taoiseach was invited to join a virtual event on the retirement of Tommie Gorman arranged by his colleagues at RTÉ. He was delighted to contribute to pay tribute to a brilliant media and broadcast career.”

It is understood the Taoiseach was not aware of Mr O’Brien’s attendance in advance, nor were most people on the call, which included dozens of RTÉ staff along with a number of special guests.

A picture of the gathering was posted on Twitter on Monday by the British ambassador Paul Johnston, who delivered a personal tribute from Prince Charles.

The picture shows Mr O’Brien in attendance with his camera off and his microphone muted.

Also pictured are Mr Gorman and his family, the Taoiseach, former president Mary McAleese and her husband former senator Martin McAleese, RTÉ director-general Dee Forbes, its chair Moya Doherty, and managing director of news Jon Williams.

Mr O’Brien, a former major shareholder in Independent News and Media, is a controversial figure in Irish public life.

His purchase of building services firm Siteserv, now known as Actavo, is currently being examined by a long-running Commission of Investigation which is examining loan write-offs at the former Anglo Irish Bank.

Separately, inspectors from the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) are currently investigating alleged data breaches at INM during a period when Mr O’Brien was a major shareholder following protected disclosures by former executives at the company, which publishes Independent.ie

In 2011, the Moriarty Tribunal found that Mr O’Brien made payments to former communications minister Michael Lowry who “secured the winning” of the State’s mobile phone licence competition for Mr O’Brien’s Esat Digifone.

Mr Lowry and Mr O’Brien have both strongly rejected the tribunal’s findings.