INDEPENDENT NEWS AND Media has stated that two of its directors can no longer be classified as independent.
In its annual report, INM said that directors Triona Mullane and Allan Marshall could not longer be considered as being independent as they had provided services to the company.
INM is the media group behind the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent, the Evening Herald and others. It has as its largest shareholder businessman Denis O’Brien.
The annual report found that Triona Mullane had provided consultancy services to INM through a different company.
She is also the CEO and largest shareholder of mAdme Technologies, which has had dealings with O’Brien.
“The Board is satisfied that Ms Mullane has always demonstrated independence at Board and Committee,” the report reads.
But considers that, collectively, the existence of these relationships or circumstances could be seen to affect independence and has determined that Ms. Mullane should not be considered independent for the purpose of the 2014 Code.
Marshall, meanwhile, had provided consultancy services to INM through a company called Computercall UK.
The report said that the company was “non-compliant” with parts of the Code that required that “at least half of the Board, excluding the Chairman, comprise non-executive Directors determined by the Board to be independent”.
The company said it was “committed to high standards of corporate governance and will take actions to address this area of non-compliance in the next four months”.
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