Garry O’Sullivan
HATS OFF to Garry O’Sullivan, who is proving that even if it is notoriously difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven, the editor of the Irish Catholic has no trouble filling the boots.
Last year, publisher Garry set up a new title, Synodal Times, as a sister paper to the Irish Catholic. It is a monthly publication (€2.50) aimed at taking what he calls “a deep dive” into the often obscure ‘Synodal Process’ that was kick-started by Pope Francis in an effort to reform and renew the Catholic Church.
When getting his new show on the road, O’Sullivan delivered a suitably fiery homily, demanding that the bishops of Ireland “step up and be accountable to their people… The old ways of clericalism do not have the answers for today’s Church… The answers most likely won’t come from Rome, but they have come from the people of faith in Ireland.”
The latest issue of Synodal Times (which is published in both print and digital formats) has targeted the role of women in the Catholic Church, with the snappy front page headline claiming, “October Synod will lack credibility if women deacons not on agenda”.
Garry O’Sullivan has published the Irish Catholic for many years through his company, Grace Communications Ltd, where the other director is moneybags Paul MacKay, former PD honorary treasurer and party founder. Grace Communications also publishes the newer title.
The shares here have been held by Tabor Asset Holdings since Garry transferred his 100% stake to this entity. Tabor, where MacKay is company secretary, is in turn owned completely by O’Sullivan. This just might cause a headache of the ‘eye of a needle’ variety, given that documents just filed in the Companies Office reveal that the profitable Grace Comms paid out dividends last year of a cool €½m.
This big pay-day for Garry still left his company sitting on accumulated profits of a gluttonous looking €900,000, although, surprisingly perhaps, directors are shown as owing Grace Comms €104,000. The good news for the directors though is that remuneration was just on €315,000 in the year to April 2022, following on from €370,000 the previous year.
The company has dealings with other assorted O’Sullivan entities, such as Tarsus Media (which owns the respected Columba Press business acquired for €32,000 by O’Sullivan from liquidators back in 2016) and Zion Media. The latter company owed Grace Comms €100,000 in April last year, relating to the transfer of the Irish Catholic title to it. Looks like Garry O’Sullivan must be getting pretty comfortable around all this mammon.
