The public relations company that former TD Jim Glennon chaired for 18 years has said it did not advise him about his public response to a character reference for a convicted sex offender.
On Sunday, Glennon confirmed he was the politician who offered a character reference for Daniel Ramamoorthy, who was convicted of sexually exploiting a child.
He said he had formally apologised for writing the reference, which he said was “naive” and “wrong”. He also confirmed he would be “resigning from any and all employment, consultancies and directorships that I currently hold”.
In a statement issued to queries submitted to The Irish Times, Edelman Ireland said Glennon (72) was the non-executive chairman of Edelman Ireland until March this year.
READ MORE
“His tenure had already ended before us becoming aware of this matter last week,” it said.
Asked why the company had taken so long to respond to media queries in relation to Glennon’s letter, the company said: “Due to legal uncertainty we refrained from engaging with media on this matter.”
It also said it had not been retained by Glennon to respond publicly. “We have not advised Jim Glennon in relation to this matter,” said a spokesman.
The company also said Glennon’s departure in March was not connected in any way to the controversy that emerged this month.
Ramamoorthy, a one-time government department adviser, was found guilty last year of sexually exploiting a teenage boy he met while volunteering as a Christian children’s camp guide. Ramamoorthy, with an address at Whitebarn Road, Rathfarnham, and also in Germany, had also been due to stand trial on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material. He pleaded guilty to this charge before the trial started.
An appeal against the severity of his sentence was rejected at the Court of Appeal earlier this month. It was during the appeal hearing that Judge John Edwards noted that not a “single one” of those who provided a character reference for Ramamoorthy mentioned the 13-year-old victim or the “vile nature” of the crime, and said that one of those who had submitted character references was a TD.
Ramamoorthy founded Treehouse, a work hub company, in 2014. Glennon was a member of its advisory board for a time.
Since the establishment of the lobbying register in 2015, records show he engaged with ministers and senior politicians on behalf of companies including Primark, Musgrave Group, Airbnb and the Irish Offshore Operators Association. The most recent activity recorded for Glennon on the lobbying register was in 2024.
Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien said on Monday it was not appropriate for his former Fianna Fáil colleague to have provided the reference.
“No one should be providing any type of reference for sex offenders or anyone in that space. I don’t believe it’s appropriate,” he said.
Glennon did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
