Ryanair takes backward step with AGM media ban

cheap Canada Goose Journalists uk canada goose outlet don’t like the idea of being denied access anywhere. In https://www.canadagooseisverige.com a journo’s perfect world we would all be sitting around the Government Cabinet table taking notes as key political decisions are made. cheap Canada Goose

It wouldn’t work very well when it comes to running the country any better or would it? Perhaps that is a debate for another buy canada goose jacket day.

canada goose store Publicly listed companies are not legally obliged to allow the media to sit in canada goose uk shop at their annual general meeting, but, at least in this part of the world, it is the norm with very rare exceptions. canada goose store

After all, if anyone is entitled to buy a share canada goose store in the company, then anyone should be entitled to know what gets said at its AGM.

That has tended to be the thinking around letting journalists cover these events, even in circumstances where a company is in particularly challenging times.

Preventing journalists can become self defeating on a number of levels. Firstly, all the journalist has to do is buy a couple of shares or arrange with a shareholder to be their proxy or representative and they can attend anyway. This is a minor inconvenience that irritates the media and doesn’t help future relations.

canada goose clearance Secondly, enforcing the rule on the day can be difficult. For a large meeting canada goose clearance sale like canada goose factory sale this, it means having a lot of checks and staff on hand which can set an unpleasant and heavy handed tone canada goose clearance

canada goose Thirdly, it can make a company look fearful of the impact of what is going to be said by somebody at the meeting. Whenever it came to canada goose media criticism or challenges to Ryanair from critics in any quarter, the airline was never fearful of robustly defending its ground in public. canada canada goose black friday sale goose

I remember watching a British television journalist seek to doorstep Michael O’Leary canada goose coats with questions as part of a TV documentary a few years ago. Instead of just walking on, Mr Canada Goose Outlet O’Leary stopped and on the spot rebutted every question put to him by the programme maker, in a very emphatic and convincing manner. To the average viewer, the Ryanair CEO won the argument.

Canada Goose Jackets But a lot has changed at Ryanair in the last 12 months. Its decision to recognise trade unions has brought a whole new set of obvious challenges. It has been dogged by one day strikes and industrial relations negotiations. Canada Goose Jackets

canada goose black friday sale And there is a lot more to come as passengers face more disruption after unions representing cabin crew in five different countries across Europe Canada Goose Coats On Sale demanded contracts based on canada goose uk outlet local rather than Irish law. canada goose black friday sale

Ryanair’s first annual general meeting since engaging with trade unions brings with it the very real possibility that the meeting will be a noisy raucous affair, as union representatives seek to get their point across.

canadian goose jacket Some shareholders might not be too happy either. Ryanair shares are down 26pc in the last 12 months. Throw into the mix, the call by one corporate governance proxy firm, that Ryanair chairman of 20 years, David Bonderman, should not continue because he has been in situ too long. canadian goose jacket

Yet, none of this explains why the airline would chose to not admit journalists to cover the event or decide not to hold a press conference or briefing afterwards.

Shareholders have backed Mr Bonderman for the last 20 years because the company has continued to deliver for them. Despite its recent falls, its share price is at similar levels to where it was two years ago and is up more than 100pc in the last five years.

buy canada goose jacket Some aspects of ideal corporate governance practice are often overlooked by investors when they have done well out of how a company is run. Canada Goose sale buy canada goose jacket

canada goose deals Yes, there will probably be a bun fight at the AGM with various groups articulating their views about the company’s industrial relations practices, remuneration and corporate governance. canada goose deals

Canada Goose online Preventing journalists from covering the Canada Goose Parka event won’t canada goose uk black friday change that, and what gets said will probably be reported Canada Goose online anyway. Canada Goose online

Ryanair has said that it wants to allow shareholders to “discuss all matters freely with the board without these discussions being distorted for PR purposes”.

In its defence, this may not be a Trump like swipe at the “fake news” of traditional media, but it may raise valid points about who represents “media” these days anyway. Bloggers cheap Canada Goose with axes to grind, websites with links to stakeholders of various kinds, may all call themselves “media” in today’s communications landscape without disclosing their biases.

canada goose clearance sale How can a company decide which publications are “real media” and which are not? Who is allowed in and who is canada goose coats on sale not? Therefore, it is cheap canada goose uk easier uk canada goose to just say journalists cannot attend. canada goose clearance sale

buy canada goose jacket cheap On the day, journalists might simply walk in, but TV cameras will not. buy canada goose jacket cheap

Canada Goose sale But this isn’t workable either. Publicly traded companies are privately owned but there is a greater onus on them to deliver openness and disclosure which can backfire if a firm retreats simply to what is permissible under the letter of the law rather than what is publicly expected of it. There are a few precedents where publicly listed companies have decided to prevent journalists from attending an AGM in Ireland. Canada Goose sale

Canada Goose Parka I covered one such meeting in Belfast in the mid 1990s. The company was a listed property vehicle called Ewart PLC. It was in the middle of a major boardroom power struggle as solicitor and property investor Noel Smyth sought to gain control. Canada Goose Parka

canada goose coats Without any advance notice we were told at the door of the event, we would not be allowed in. I rang the Irish Stock Exchange immediately and was told the company canadian goose jacket had the right to do that. canada goose coats

Noel Smyth rather apologetically explained afterwards that it wasn’t his idea to ban journalists but others on the board had made the decision.

Funny enough a boardroom power struggle was behind another example. Ten years ago the London AIM Canada Goose Online listed payments group Payzone barred reporters from an extraordinary general meeting in Dublin.

canada goose coats on sale Shareholders were due to vote on ousting then chief executive John Nagle and chief financial officer John Williamson. canada goose coats on sale

Ryanair has been planning this move for at least six weeks. The annual general meeting is being held at 9am in Co Meath and the AGM buy canada goose jacket cheap notice drafted on August 1 states that somebody must be a shareholder or representative of a shareholder to canada goose outlet attend the meeting.