IT'S difficult to decide whether Jim O'Mahony can be classed as a winner or a loser. On the one hand he was removed from the top job at Golden Vale after a bitter and protracted battle between factions. His opponents blamed him for Golden Vale's £3 million superlevy fine, while his supporters felt the malaise at Golden Vale went far deeper than the chief executive's office.
Mr O'Mahony finally settled with Golden Vale for an estimated £1 million and is now, in conjunction with some unnamed partners looking for investments of up to £10 million. Few doubt that Jim O'Mahony will sit on the sidelines for very long - he already has a substantial stake in the Cork local radio station 96FM.
Dubliner Jim Murphy - Mr O'Mahony's replacement from next February in the top job at Golden Vale - is already a winner having been a major beneficiary of the management buyout and subsequent sale of the The Cheese Company in the UK to Waterford Foods.
Whether he will be viewed as a winner two years hence when his contract with Golden Vale expires remains to be seen. Few in the industry underestimate the difficulties that Mr Murphy faces in turning around Golden Vale, whose shareholders can be very much classified as losers given the direction their share price has taken. In nominating Mr Murphy to restore its fortunes Golden Vale has, it seems, taken a turn for the better.