Glasses will be raised to Denis at the Four Courts this Christmas

MONEY can’t buy you happiness — that’s the phrase that keeps coming to mind when I think of Denis O’Brien. What an annus horribilis 2015 has been for the billionaire.

Wherever he turns it’s been a miserable twelve months whether it’s the New York Stock Exchange, the Dáil, the media, even I reckon on the streets of Ireland.

Wouldn’t you just want to give the man a massive hug, in fact a collective national group hug is what is needed here. The poor fella. What good is it topping rich lists and flying the world in your executive jet when you can’t seem to get the affection and respect of your home nation? Is it a step too far to suggest that we need to nominate a “December is for Denis” month in an effort to get some affection back into this relationship where the trust has been so badly damaged.