Decided by the Press Ombudsman

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a number of complaints made by the General Secretary of the Irish Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (ICPSA), Mr John Mc Cormack, that an article published in The Sunday Times on 15 July 2012 headlined “RTE gives job to ‘bottom pincher’” breached Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy), 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment), 3 (Fairness and Honesty), 4 (Respect for Rights), 5 (Privacy) and 7 (Court Reporting) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a complaint by Mr William Mongey that an article published in the Irish Examiner on 1 February last breached Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy), 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment), 3 Fairness and Honesty and 8 (Prejudice) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint by Mr Garth Collier under Principle 5 of the Code of Practice that a photograph of him accompanying an article about him published on 9 October 2011 was taken in a private place without his consent, and was not justified by the public interest.

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint that an article published in The Corkman breached Principle 5.3 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines because it did not take sufficiently into account the feelings of a family grieving over the death of their son by suicide.

The Press Ombudsman has found that an offer by the Irish Examiner was sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint made by Mr Tom Quirke that an article published in that newspaper on 28 December breached Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy) and 4 (Respect for Rights) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazine.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that a statement published by The Irish Times on 3 December 2011 was in breach of Principle 5.3 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines because it failed to take sufficiently into account the feelings of Tom and Sally Fitzgerald, who were grieving over the death by suicide of their daughter Kate. The statement referred to an article that was published anonymously on 9 September 2011, and in which the author wrote about her personal history of depression. This article included some comments about the author’s experiences in her workplace, which was not identified. A subsequent article in the newspaper identified Kate FitzGerald as the author.

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a complaint by Mr Phillip Fay that an item published in the Sunday Independent on 18 December 2011 was a breach of Principle 8 (Prejudice) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint by the Teaching Council that two articles in the Irish Independent on 22 November 2011 and 16 December 2011 about a survey conducted by the Teaching Council on maths teachers in secondary schools breached Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines. Further complaints that the articles breached Principles 1 and 3 were not upheld.

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint from a parent made through her solicitor about an article in the Sunday World because it failed to observe the requirement of Principle 9 (Children) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines that publications should take particular care in presenting information about a child under the age of 16.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that The Argus made an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint by Mr. William Colgan that a report of a court case of 7 December 2011, in which a charge of careless driving against him was dismissed, was in breach of Principle 7 (Court Reporting) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and magazines.