Greg O’Gorman, a member of the well-known Kilkenny retail family, has spoken for the first time this week on the end of the High Court legal battle he waged against his mother, Marian O’Gorman.

Greg O’Gorman was sacked by Marian O’Gorman in 2016 and took legal action, alleging that he had been unfairly dismissed and that she had reneged on an agreement which would have given him ownership of 25pc of the business.

The case continued for two years, during which time he threatened to picket the Nassau Street store where he had previously worked. It was announced last year that it had been “resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.”

While a confidentiality agreement limits what Greg O’Gorman can say about the outcome of the dispute, he spoke to the Sunday Independent about his reasons for taking the case and the ramifications it had on the famous retail family.

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“I was financially in a very difficult position, I had to do what I had to do for my family and for myself and I’ll make no apologies for that’, he says. “I had to do it to protect my three children my wife and myself. It wasn’t an ideal scenario.”

The dispute drove a wedge between Greg O’Gorman and his family.

While he remained close to his father, Michael, during much of the dispute he now says that he is also estranged from both his parents and his siblings.

“Unfortunately now there is no relationship,” he said. “There is no relationship with [his father] either. It was difficult for a period of time but we’re now 18 months down the line and I have my wife and three children at home.

“I’ve a business that’s doing exceptionally well and a business partner that I respect (former athletics world champion Derval O’Rourke). I’m working very hard.

“So my life is fairly fulfilled.”

O’Gorman has since co-founded Digital Health Resource, an online fitness and lifestyle platform. He doesn’t see a possibility of a detente with his siblings and parents anytime soon.

“I think it’s very difficult. There is a lot of water under the bridge and while I would never say never I think it’s unlikely.”

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