Lucy Gaffney resigns from Independent News & Media

Businesswoman Lucy Gaffney has resigned from her role as a director of Independent News & Media (INM).

Ms Gaffney, the chairwoman of Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp radio group, had been a member of the board, as a non-executive director, since 2009.

INM chairman Leslie Buckley said Ms Gaffney had been a “valuable and positive” contributor to the company since her appointment.

“She was hugely ambitious for INM during her time on the board,” he said in a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange.

Ms Gaffney has been a business associate of Mr O’Brien for many years. She joined his Esat Digifone as an adviser on its bid to win Ireland’s second GSM mobile phone licence, and the network’s subsequent launch, during the 1990s.

She was also a founding director of his Digicel Group, which launched in Jamaica in 2001.

In 2014, Ms Gaffney was appointed to the Topaz Energy Group Limited board of directors, which is also owned by Mr O’Brien.

Mr O’Brien is the largest shareholder in INM.

Ms Gaffney is a graduate of the College of Marketing and Design, Dublin.

She is a former chair of the National Action Plan against Racism in Ireland and has previously held directorships in Special Olympics, First Active plc and Ulster Bank Limited.