Is Shane Ross a West Briton ?

I was in someone else's house yesterday so I browsed through the Sindo. It was the usual load of tosh and opinionated hacks writing to order. What did catch my eye was an article by Shane Ross (you know the economist who fights for the little man, the Senator elected by a tiny clique) about Denis O'Brien and his donation to the FAI. I don't have much of an opinion on O'Brien and even less a one on the FAI but this article was just another in the battle between O'Reilly and O'Brien. It's sad to see a supposed journalist writing to suit his boss.. But anyways. What struck me was that Ross kept on referring to Tony O'Reilly as Sir Anthony. It was Srantny-this, Srantny-that, Srantny the best in the world, Srantny who brought broadband to the masses (nah - he didn't peddle that lie). It's my understanding that seeing as we don't have an honours system such honorifics are purely decoration and really don't have any standing so why does Rosss insist on talking about Srantny ?