TIMELINE OF ACTIONS
SEPTEMBER 2016
Independent News&Media (INM) announces it has agreed a deal to buy Celtic Media Group, which owns a portfolio of regional newspapers. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) calls for Communications Minister Denis Naughten to probe the implications of the proposed deal for media diversity.
NOVEMBER 2016.
On November 10 or 11 2016 Mr Naughten received a phone call from PR executive Eoghan Ó Neachtain informing him that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) had approved the INM acquisition of Celtic Media Group. Mr Naughten said he expressed what he has described as a “personal view” that it was likely the proposed deal would be referred to the BAI for a Phase Two review in light of the scale of the proposed deal. Mr Ó Neachtain relays this information to his boss Nigel Heneghan, who in turn emails then-INM chairman Leslie Buckley. On November 12, Mr Buckley forwards the email to businessman Denis O’Brien.
DECEMBER 2016
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy raises the proposed deal in the Dáil. Mr Naughten’s response to her confirms that a Phase One assessment of the merger began on November 24, 2016, and indicated there were 30 days to decide on its outcome.
JANUARY 2017
Mr Naughten’s officials recommend on January 4, 2017, that the deal be referred to a Phase Two assessment. Mr Naughten approves this on January 10, 2017.
MAY 2017
Mr Naughten has conversation with Mr Buckley at an INM Data Summit in the RDS. He later says this amounted to “small talk”.
JUNE 2017
INM and Celtic Media Group announce that the merger deal won’t go ahead.
APRIL 2018
The November 12, 2016 email between Mr Buckey and Mr O’Brien emerges as part of a probe by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) and is reported in ‘The Irish Times’. The ODCE is examining corporate governance issues at INM. Catherine Murphy questions if Mr Naughten misled the Dáil about the timeline of his decision making about referring the merger for a BAI assessment. Mr Naughten told the Dáil last night there was “nothing wrong or inappropriate” in expressing a personal view that it was likely the deal would be referred to the BAI. He said that this was “not inside information” and he was “by no means expressing a definitive view”.