Kinsella sought press help against Kenmare

FORMER KENMARE Resources deputy chairman Donal Kinsella has told the High Court he had hoped a threat of tabloid publicity about an incident where he had sleepwalked naked would have stopped an attempt to remove him as chairman of the company’s audit committee.

Mr Kinsella was being cross-examined on the third day of his libel action against Kenmare Resources plc and its chairman, Charles Carvill, arising out of a press release issued by the company in July 2007.

It stated the board was to seek Mr Kinsella’s resignation as chairman of the company’s audit committee arising out of “an incident” in which he sleepwalked naked to the room of Deirdre Corcoran, the company secretary, during a trip to Kenmare’s Moma mine in Mozambique on May 9th, 2007.

Kenmare denies the claims.

Mr Kinsella yesterday told Bill Shipsey SC, for the defendants, that he had asked John "Jumbo" Kierans, editor of the Irish Daily Mirror, as an "old friend", to make a call to Kenmare asking to speak to Ms Corcoran.

He initially said he told Mr Kierans virtually nothing but, pressed by Mr Shipsey, later said he told Mr Kierans that a complaint had been made about the Mozambique incident and it was being used by the company as an attempt to shaft him, or words to that effect.

Asked if this was effectively a threat that if the company did not call off the meeting, there would be publicity and Ms Corcoran would have to “face the publicity which attaches to that story”, Mr Kinsella replied “Yes”.

After Mr Kierans phoned looking for Ms Corcoran, Mr Kinsella said he was phoned by public relations consultant Jim Milton, on behalf of the company, and asked if he knew Mr Kierans.

He said he knew then Mr Milton had the press release “primed” and ready to go.

When Mr Kierans rang the company, his calls were redirected to Mr Milton’s office, Mr Kinsella said. “That indicated to me I was right, they had the gun loaded and were ready to shoot as soon as possible when that loaded press release was sent out.”

Mr Milton was a “hired hand” and, while he was highly professional and courteous, he was “agin me”.

Earlier, Mr Kinsella agreed with Mr Shipsey that he had written to Mr Carvill threatening he would expose clandestine payments to directors which had not been picked up by the audit committee.

The court heard Mr Carvill wrote back saying Mr Kinsella was accusing the company of criminal and corporate offences which it strongly denied and for which he had provided no evidence.

Mr Kinsella’s eldest child, Ciara, told the court of how shaken her mother, Joan, and her father were the day after the press release became public. Her father looked particularly vulnerable, she said.

The case continues.

This article was amended on February 23rd, 2011