Cowen appointed to board of O’Brien’s Topaz Energy

Former taoiseach Brian Cowen has picked up his first gig in the private sector after Denis O’Brien appointed him as a director of Topaz Energy.

Mr Cowen joins the company as part of a boardroom reshuffle that has happened after Mr O’Brien gained control of the firm by acquiring its €304m debt from the liquidators of IBRC.

The telecommunications billionaire, who was the focus of a lengthy probe by the Moriarty Tribunal, also joined the board of the fuel distribution business.

Another new director is Colm Doherty, who was installed as managing director of AIB after Mr Cowen’s government rescued the bank.

Mr Doherty was appointed to Mr O’Brien’s Siteserv in 2012.

Lucy Gaffney, a director at the Mr O’Brien-controlled Independent News and Media group, and Mr O’Brien’s nephew Emmet O’Brien also join the Topaz board.

Mr Cowen has kept a low profile since he was ousted from office by his own front bench in 2011.

Last year, he set up a consultancy company, where his wife, Mary, is also a director. It has yet to file accounts.

Topaz has a network of more than 300 service stations across Ireland, but lost €13m last year.

Mr O’Brien had a minority stake in the company until he bid for the loans Topaz owed to the IBRC. He succeeded in picking these up at a heavy discount.

Earlier this year, Mr O’Brien successfully joined the State as a co-defendant in a landmark case taken by Persona, which lost out to Esat in the award of the country’s second mobile phone licence in 1995.