Maria Divine Mercy: Holy Mary's PR Problem

Source: Phoenix 2015

A DUBLIN-BASED PR specialist named Mary Carberry was the centre of a colourful story in the Irish Mail On Sunday last month, which alleged that the businesswoman was involved in a bizarre religious outfit called Maria Divine Mercy (MDM).

She claims to receive prophecies from God and flogs various religious paraphernalia online, such as books and medals. But the real story about Carberry – who also goes by her maiden name, Mary McGovern – relates to her business history.

She has been involved in all sorts of companies in recent years, a number of which have been hauled up before the courts over bad debts.
Carberry tends to use her maiden name for her PR business, McGovern PR, and has been a director of a slew of companies in recent years, most of which have been related to PR or marketing. 

In 2009, Irish Nationwide took Carberry and her husband, John Carberry, to the Circuit

Court seeking possession of their Malahide home, which was €50,000 in arrears. Happily, however, six years on the Malahide home remains the address given for Carberry on company records. Also in 2009, Fingal County Council secured a small judgment of €4,000 in the District Court in connection with a business of Carberry’s known as ‘McGovern Communications.’

In 2010, meanwhile, Ulster Bank sued her in the High Court and was awarded judgment of €36,000, which was subsequently converted into a judgment mortgage. Three years later, the bank was granted an execution order, meaning that the sheriff was sent to seize assets belonging to the businesswoman. Meanwhile in 2011, a company owned by Carberry called Ambition Awards Ltd (which traded as ‘Online PR’) collapsed into liquidation, having previously had judgments totalling €5,500 granted against it in favour of Fingal County Council. 

The PR woman has also been the director of a number of companies that have been struck off by the Companies Registration Office for failing to file accounts. These have included a recruitment company, Culturelink Ltd, and a property company called Marbella Property Investments Ltd, both of which were struck off in 2005. 

Since then, at least five Carberry-linked companies have also been struck off, most of which were related to PR or marketing. 

Carberry has been the focus of attention from online sleuths who have been attempting to uncover the mystery of who exactly is behind MDM, which began around 2010. One of its websites, ‘Coma Books’, sells something called ‘The Book of Truth’ and religious medals. ‘Coma Books’ is a registered business name belonging Sarah and Mary Carberry to Trumpet Publishing Ltd, which was set up in 2010. Carberry’s daughter, Sarah Carberry, was a director here but stepped down in 2013.

The current directors are a retired Donegal dentist, Breffni Cully, and a German national, Heinrich Martin Roth. Another company apparently linked to MDM is Merdel Ltd, set up to sell religious medals but which doesn’t appear to have ever traded. (Cully and Roth held the shares here.) 

Using her maiden name, Mary Carberry’s signature appears on the company’s incorporation document as a witness. 

She declined to respond to queries from Goldhawk about her involvement with the religious group.

Reblogged from Dialogue Ireland