Victory for O’Brien in crusade for more independent ‘Independent’

It may have taken six years to achieve, but yesterday’s resignation of Gavin O’Reilly as the head of the country’s largest media group will widely be seen as a victory for Denis O’Brien and his crusade for a more ‘independent’ Independent.

Because of this, arguably the most surprising element of yesterday’s developments at INM was the lack of public reaction from Mr O’Brien — a spokesperson confirmed yesterday evening he would not be commenting on the matter.

Since investing in INM just over six years ago, Mr O’Brien has — save for the odd hiatus — been at loggerheads with the O’Reilly family over their running of the business.