Denis O Brien is a successful Irish businessman and philanthropist who has invested heavily in the Irish media - more than €500m reportedly. But he made his fortune by winning the licence to operate Ireland s second mobile phone network, a victory still wrapped in controversy.
He could have done worse. He did not turn his media organisations into the likes of the shocking Fox News, with its deliberate and savage bias, or reduce newspapers in which he had a major interest to the level of some of Rupert Murdoch s tabloids. His Communicorp group of radio stations includes Newstalk, Today FM and Spin.