Apologise for INM phone call, Martin tells Minister
FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has demanded further explanation from the Taoiseach and Communications Minister following the Independent News and Media (INM) controversy, describing their defence in the Dáil last week as ‘ridiculous’.
Days after Leo Varadkar said that he was satisfied with Denis Naughten’s explanation as to why he spoke to a lobbyist about the proposed takeover of the Celtic Media group by INM, Mr Martin demanded an apology from the Minister.
Speaking at a 1916 Commemoration event in Arbour Hill, Dublin yesterday, the Fianna Fáil chief said both the Taoiseach and Minister needed to state unequivocally that it was wrong of Mr Naughten to disclose the information. ‘I think many people find the Minister’s defence... incredible. The Taoiseach started this by suggesting what happened initially was a personal view,’ he said.
‘You can’t distinguish a personal view from his responsibility as a minister in relation to media mergers. That was a ridiculous statement to make.
‘Secondly, he compounded the original wrong by the manner of his defence in the Dáil. I think the Taoiseach has to be categoric in the Dáil, and so must the Minister, that what he did was wrong. I think the Minister should apologise for what he did.’
The Fianna Fáil leader added: ‘If it’s the Government view that this is something which is okay, then I do think we have a problem in terms of future behaviour.’
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan told RTÉ’s The Week In Politics yesterday that the Taoiseach should not have to address the issue further.
‘The Taoiseach has spoken on this on a number of occasions. The fact of the matter here is that there were no adverse consequences of the phone call,’ he said, adding that the phone call between Mr Naughten and a PR executive working for INM was a ‘mistake’. ‘In this case, Denis Naughten admits himself that if the clock were turned back, he wouldn’t have taken the phone call, so he made a mistake,’ the Justice Minister said.
‘He was expressing an option of something that was likely to happen in the future. He didn’t give any definitive view.’
Mr Flanagan added that Minister Naughten did not disclose information from any documentation, and that the information reportedly passed on ‘wasn’t the third secret of Fatima. The dogs on the street were barking.’
When asked by the Irish Daily Mail last week if the Taoiseach’s strong defence of Mr Naughten was his ‘position as Taoiseach’ or if it was ‘a personal opinion’, Leo Varadkar failed to suppress a chuckle, and insisted that the Minister ‘didn’t do any favours for anyone’. In 2016, INM announced their proposed €4million takeover of Celtic Media, publisher of a number of local newspapers.
If the acquisition had been successful, it would have increased the number of regional publications owned by INM from 13 to 20. In November of the same year, the takeover was approved by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
The same month, Mr Naughten spoke with Eoghan Ó Neachtain, of Heneghan PR, which works for INM. During the conversation, the Minister reportedly told Mr Ó Neachtain that it was likely the acquisition would be referred to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. The details of the conversation were passed to Nigel Heneghan, also of Heneghan PR, who sent them to the then INM chairman, Leslie Buckley. Mr Buckley then forwarded the email to INM’s largest shareholder Denis O’Brien.
Defence was ‘ridiculous’