Handheld video by @topgold.
I AM FASCINATED with the current tension between the private citizen Denis O'Brien and the public interest. It's an issue playing out in the Irish courts while stifled in the Irish press.
I made a short YouTube clip [1] while trying to figure out what is happening in the case of #obrienvrte. The principal players aren't supposed to talk about the issues--although the spokesmen in the RTE audio clip [2] cited below bring clarity to some of the salient points. But in light of the information vacuum that emerges, interested citizens like myself are reduced to following the flow on social media not via #redacted mainstream media. I don't think that constraint sustains the public interest and hope the Irish courts right that wrong.
For the record, Denis O'Brien successfully applied for an injunction against the State Broadcaster RTÉ, preventing the radio and television and the broadcaster's social media from airing a report on how O'Brien was receiving, with the direct permission of former CEO of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC)—the former Anglo Irish Bank, a rate of approximately 1.25% when IBRC should have been charging 7.5%. It appears that the active line of credit extended to nearly €500 million. After he got a verbal agreement to retain the highly favourable credit line, O'Brien wrote to special liquidator Kieran Wallace in KPMG to demand that these same terms be continued. No formal credit committee approval was sought or provided during a time that other Irish businesses and Irish citizens were highly constrained in their banking arrangements. The Irish government then appointed Kieran Wallace (the man who approved the credit arrangement) to conduct an investigation into these same dealings. Denis O'Brien successfully sought an injunction in Ireland's High Court to hide this information from the public. [3]. When High Court Judge Donald Binchy granted O'Brien the injunction, he instructed the court to redact certain elements of the judgment. He told members of the court audience that they were "on notice" to observe the judgment. This meant the Irish media could not report on details of the injunction. [4]. Independent TD Catherine Murphy raised the issue in the Irish Parliament on 28 May [5] and the video of her actions spun over to YouTube where it quickly attracted international interest. Lawyers acting for O'Brien immediately forced the country's media to censor its own coverage, with some media outlets confirming they had received warnings from O'Brien's lawyers. [6] Foreign commentators covering these events for the international media suggested Irish democracy had been "wiped away at a stroke". [7]
[Bernie Goldbach teaches creative media production in the Limerick School of Art & Design.]
1. Bernie Goldbach Reading about #redacted on YouTube.
2. RTE This Week podcast information.
3. Roy Greenslade -- "Ireland's media silenced over MP's speech about Denis O'Brien" in The Guardian, May 29, 2015.
4. Mark Paul -- "Denis O'Brien ‘delighted’ after winning RTÉ injunction" in The Irish Times, May 22, 2015.
5. Dail Eireann -- "Comptroller and Auditor General Bill (Amended) 2015" by Catherine Murphy, May 28, 2015.
6. "#redacted's 1.25% interest rate" in Broadsheet.ie, May 29, 2015.
7. Alex Thomson -- "Denis O'Brien injunction: what damage to Irish democracy?" on Channel 4 News, May 29, 2015.
