Directors share €3.203m

The six executive directors of The Irish Times Ltd were paid a total of €3.203 million in 2004, including salaries, bonuses, benefits in kind and pension contributions.

This compared to €2.688 million in 2003. They also each received directors' fees of €9,214.

The two highest paid directors were the editor of The Irish Times Geraldine Kennedy and the managing director of The Irish Times Ltd Maeve Donovan. Both earned salaries of €323,000, up from €308,000 in 2003.

The next highest paid director was deputy managing director Michael Austen who earned a salary of €240,000 compared to €231,000 the previous year.

Finance director Liam Kavanagh received €193,000 (€185,000 in 2003) and the deputy editor of The Irish Times, Paul O'Neill, received €145,000 (€132,000 in 2003).

Eoin McVey, managing editor of the newspaper was paid €123,000 (€117,000 in 2003).

The six also shared €397,000 in performance related bonuses, which were not broken down.

The performance related bonus payments in 2003 totalled €418,000.

Benefits in kind to the executives were €115,000 (2003: €97,000) and pension contributions were €780,000 (€2003: €709,000.) There was an additional payment of €564,000 into the executive pension scheme in respect of Mr Séamus McCague who retired in November 2003 under the company's voluntary parting scheme.

According to the annual report and accounts, the payment related to Mr McCague's pension to the period 31st December 2004 and "an amount required by the actuary, under the funding proposal to the Pensions Board, to allow his admission as a pensioner to the scheme".

The non-executive chairman of The Irish Times Ltd, Brian Patterson, was paid a salary of €95,000, unchanged on the previous year in addition to directors fees of €9,214. Professor David McConnell, the chairman of The Irish Times Trust Ltd, which owns The Irish Times Ltd, was paid €44,000, again this was unchanged on the previous year. He also received fees of €9,214.

Four non-executive directors who served during the year, Alex Burns, Gerard Burns, John Fanning and Gregory Sparks received fees of €22,000 each.

Mr David Went, who replaced Prof Dervilla Donnelly, waived his fee.

Mr Went, along with Mr Burns and Prof Donnelly were also Governors of the Irish Times Trust Ltd. Prof Donnelly retired from The Irish Times Ltd and The Irish Times Trust in 2004.