Irish businessman in question is Cork-based William O’Brien — who runs a successful storage and crane hire operation from Bishopstown with links across Europe. “I take my hat off to you for your persistence, but I have no comment,” O’Brien said when contacted by The Times. Well-placed sources say that he has joined with some English investors ready to take the club off Short’s hands.
O’Brien’s track record suggests that his diversification into the business of owning and running a football club should not be taken lightly. The Wm O’Brien Group was set up in the 1950s by his father, also William, who died last year at the age of 89. It is an unlimited company and so it is difficult to gauge O’Brien’s financial worth, but the company has extensive interests across Europe, along with bases in Britain and France.
O’Brien is a former farmer and has travelled extensively in the Far East. The company’s slogan is: “Where O’Brien goes, Prosperity follows”.