Madam, - Denis O'Brien has not turned his back on Ireland, to which the athletes and 35,000 volunteers of the Special Olympics can testify. Denis agreed to take on the daunting prospect to chair the 2003 Special Olympics World Games when no-one else in Ireland was prepared to do it.
He put the money where his mouth was and wrote the cheques when funding fell short. Denis along with other leading Irish businessmen ensured that the funding was in place to provide for a very high standard World Games production.
But most importantly Denis never attempted to hijack the games to achieve his own means. He knew that funding was the catalyst to the games, but that the real success would come from the determination and commitment of the many athletes and volunteers. He revelled in their achievement, not his own. He embraced their success with selfless joy. That is Denis at his best.
It is unfair to judge Denis on the fact that he did not have to pay 20 per cent capital gains to the Revenue.
The fact is that Denis had, long before selling Esat, invested in Quinta de Lago in Portugal. It was legitimate and logical that Denis would move to Portugal at that stage, to protect his interests there. As tax laws would have it, in that move Denis did not have to pay capital gains to the Revenue.
In making the choice to live in Portugal, he did not make the choice to turn his back on Irish people. Denis has a group of close knit friends and he continues to remain loyal and supportive. He is a committed family man. He is privately compassionate and supportive to many organisations and individuals in this country and remains a major investor in many companies in this country. He has never abused his financial situation and has a very strong work ethic.
He, like all of us, is entitled to expect that his tax issues, home address, family matters, etc. should be kept private. He is understandably exasperated by the biased, ill-informed, manipulated information that is being put into the public domain by the press.
I think it is about time that all media people look at the standard of journalism that is being written and said about Denis O'Brien and question their moral ethics to their profession. - Yours, etc.,
PATRICIA TSOUROS,
Marlborough Road,
Dublin 4.