DOCUMENTARY
DENIS O’BRIEN – THE STORY SO FAR
RTE One, 9.35pm
Denis O’brien, the richest nativeborn Irishman, is never far from the headlines.
This feature-length documentary looks at his career and hears from his admirers and critics.
RTE’S David Murphy traces O’brien’s rise, starting with his childhood in Ballsbridge with friend Conn Clissman recalling his “boisterous” nature.
The programme follows his career from early ventures including a home shopping channel which collapsed, his early successes in radio, the launch of telecoms group Esat and the controversial award of the second mobile phone licence.
And it goes right up to the present day where O’brien now runs telecoms group Digicel, with 14 million customers in the Caribbean, and is the biggest private media owner in Ireland.
Also contributing to the documentary are former US President Bill Clinton, athlete Usain Bolt and former INM executive Gavin O’reilly.