Palmer and McGuinness resign from Independent

Mr David Palmer and Mr Gerry McGuinness have resigned from the board of Independent News & Media.

It is understood that Mr Palmer will also step down from his position as non-executive chairman of Independent's Irish operations.

His departure from the group had been signalled at the Independent annual general meeting held earlier this year.

Mr McGuinness has resigned from his role as non-executive director. The reasons for his departure are unclear, but it is understood that he currently spends most of his time abroad.

An Independent spokesman said that the timing of the two resignations was "coincidental".

The spokesman said that there was no ill-feeling between the two men and the Independent board.

"It was very much a personal decision both ways," he said, adding that Independent had no immediate plans to appoint new directors.

Mr Palmer was first hired by Independent to head up its Irish operations in 1994. He had previously been group chief executive at the Financial Times, a position he reportedly left after a "personality clash."

In 1998, Mr Palmer was replaced as managing director of the Irish operations by Mr Gavin O'Reilly, son of group executive chairman, Sir Anthony O'Reilly.

At that point, Mr Palmer became chairman of Independent Newspapers (Ireland) in what many perceived as a sideward move. He took charge of development at the company's €89 million new print plant at Citywest, Co Dublin, a project which has now been completed.

Earlier this year, Mr Palmer announced that he would be stepping down from his role at Chorus, the cable television firm part owned by Independent. He moved back to the UK over the summer. Details of his retirement package have not been disclosed.

Mr McGuinness had been a director of Independent since 1980. His former roles include managing director and executive chairman of Sunday Newspapers, founding publisher of the Sunday World.

According to Independent's most recent annual report, Mr Palmer held almost 47,000 shares at the end of last year, while Mr McGuinness owned 6.7 million shares. Mr Palmer also held options over one million shares at €1.19. Independent closed at €1.37 in Dublin last night. Both men have been active sellers of the stock over the last decade.