Updated 2pm
RTÉ HAS PUBLISHED ‘almost all’ of the story it had prepared about Denis O’Brien after the High Court agreed that most of the information is in the public domain.
The news report was originally scheduled to be broadcast on 1 May but was blocked after the businessman secured an injunction.
Now, after Justice Donald Binchy agreed to vary the order because of “dramatic” recent events, the broadcaster has published most of the information on its website.
The story says that the billionaire told the liquidator of IBRC that he had received ‘verbal confirmation’ from former CEO Mike Aynsley of an extension of his €320 million loans.
The story now publishes contents from a letter written from O’Brien to liquidator Kieran Wallace in which he said the extension amounted to a year on the three-year loan.
The story, prepared by business editor David Murphy, also alleges that IBRC believed that “its situation had been weakened” by O’Brien’s claim of a verbal agreement.
It also says that there was “protracted correspondence” between the bank and O’Brien.
It adds that documents seen by the broadcaster did not show how the issue was resolved.
Last week, the High Court refused to completely lift the injunction order.
It had been argued by RTÉ it was made inconsequential by a number of developments including speeches in the Dáil by TDs Catherine Murphy and Pearse Doherty.
Lawyers for O’Brien, RTÉ and IBRC have since been arguing over which parts of the RTÉ script should remain covered by the injunction.
O’Brien had no longer opposed the publication of information that had come into the public domain.
Now, it has been decided by the High Court that all but two paragraphs of the RTÉ report can be published.
Lawyers for IBRC argued that legal advice given to the bank about its relationship with the businessman should remain confidential.
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