From the Sunday Times:

“His most painful investment has been Independent News & Media, whose stable includes the Irish Independent. Between 2006 and 2009 he built a 26% stake at a cost of more than €510m. During that period the group’s newspapers ran articles critical of him.
He engaged in a bitter wrangle over the company’s direction with Sir Tony O’Reilly, the long-time chief executive. O’Brien eventually won his campaign to force out O’Reilly, who retired in 2009.
Financially, however, the business was a disaster for him. The publisher was hit hard by the economic slowdown and in 2009 it was forced into a debt-for-equity swap that virtually wiped out investors.
O’Brien, still the biggest single investor, was left nursing a €500m paper loss. Worse, he would have to look elsewhere to repay Barclays Bank and Anglo Irish Bank, which funded the share spree.”

This doesn’t point out the fact that O’Brien took out the loan for the shares from Anglo after it was nationalised.

Burning bond holders and debt restructuring is common practice, except when it comes to Anglo. The loan is going to be bought from the Central Bank of Ireland via a NAMA Bond. Let’s say that O’Brien and McKillen don’t pay. The loss would immediately be a sovereign one.