The legacy of Charlie Bird to business journalism

Charlie Bird’s contribution to charity and as an inspirational human being has been rightly lauded this week following his passing after a brave battle in opposition to ill-health. But his affect on business journalism is equally noteworthy and admirable.   Bird’s autobiography has two chapters about his groundbreaking publicity of a tax avoidance scandal in National Irish Bank, then the fourth-largest monetary establishment in Ireland.  Bird describes the strain he was below when attempting to broadcast a narrative in 1998 that claimed that NIB was selling a product that facilitated tax evasion.   “The penalties of publicly revealing this reality can be big for…