'If I had a gun, I'd shoot you in the face': The €400m O'Callaghan family bust-up

In 2014, it looked like a picture-perfect dynasty.  

 

Hotelier and multimillionaire Noel O’Callaghan stood beside his sons, Paul and Charles, at Royal Ascot. They were dressed in top hats and morning suits, celebrating a major win for their filly Anthem Alexander. 

 

It was a moment that seemed to capture everything: wealth, success and a powerful family empire decades in the making. 

 

But 12 years later, that image has been replaced by High Court filings, allegations of betrayal and a bitter row over control of a family fortune. 

 

Noel O’Callaghan says he handed over an empire worth more than €400m to his sons out of love and trust. Now, he claims he has been frozen out of the business he created, claims strongly disputed by his sons. 

 

On today’s Indo Daily, Tessa Fleming is joined by Irish Independent legal affairs editor Shane Phelan to look at how a family succession plan became one of Ireland’s most bitter corporate feuds. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.