The whistleblower who leaked thousands of documents and emails relating to the transport firm Uber is from the Shannonside region.
Mark MacGann, was born in Longford in 1970 and lived much of his early life in Ballyleague.
The documents reveal how taxi firm Uber, tried to gain favour from politicians across the world.
It's understood that he retains strong connections to the region having left Ireland in the late 1980s before embarking on a career as a high-powered executive.
The firm has responded to the concerns raised by the documents released by MacGann claiming its "past behaviour wasn't in line with present values" and it is a "different company" today.
Simon Carswell is the Public Affairs Editor of the Irish Times, who got access to the documents
He explains why the 52-year-old has gone public now :
"He told The Guardian he's chosen to become a whistleblower and disclose what Uber was up to because he claims Uber senior executives knowingly flaunted the law in dozens of countries.
We have no evidence any laws were broken in Ireland but he is unhappy that the company, and he admits that he was party to this, and responsible for doing this but he said governments and people were sold a lie of the economic benefits of the driver from the company's gig economy model."
