Communications Minister Denis Naughten should remove himself from any media merger decisions unless he issues a public statement accepting he was wrong to discuss Independent News and Media’s (INM) bid for Celtic Media with a lobbyist.

Communications Minister Denis Naughten will not be forced from office by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar or Fianna Fáil, despite facing accusations of giving out “inside information” over a media deal.

TWO of the country’s leading public relations companies have agreed to merge.