Decided by the Press Ombudsman

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint by the ESB that an article in the Irish Independent of 21 October 2010 was in breach of Principle 2 of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines because it reported, as a fact, that a person had taken his own life because of his concern about an unpaid electricity bill. A second complaint about the same article was not upheld, and it was not possible to make a decision on a third complaint about it. He did not uphold complaints about a second article, published on 22 October.

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint by the ESB that an article in the Evening Herald of 21 October 2010 was in breach of Principle 2 of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines because it reported, as fact, that a person had taken his own life because of his concern about an unpaid electricity bill. A second complaint about the article was not upheld, and it was not possible to make a decision on a third complaint about it.

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint by the ESB that an article in the Carlow Nationalist of 26 October 2010 was in breach of Principle 2 of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines because it reported, as fact, that a person had taken his own life because of his concern about an unpaid electricity bill. A second complaint about the article was not upheld, and it was not possible to make a decision on a third complaint about it.

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold two complaints by Mr Danny O’Reilly that the publication of photographs of him in the News of the World on 14 November 2010 were in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy) and 4 (Respect for Rights) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines. No decisions could be made about a number of other complaints about the article.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that there is insufficient evidence to make a decision on a complaint by Mr James Gantley that an article published in the Irish News of the World on 21 November that described him as a drug trafficker was in breach of Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice.

The Press Ombudsman has upheld a complaint by Ms Jackie Kelly that references to her in an article in the Sunday Independent of 24 October 2010 were in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy) and 4 (Respect for Rights) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.  Two other complaints about alleged breaches of the Code were not upheld.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that an article published in the Irish Daily Star Sunday was in breach of Principle 5 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that there is insufficient evidence to allow him to come to a decision that three articles in the Evening Herald about an individual who was murdered were in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy), 4 (Respect for Rights) and 5.3 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that there is insufficient evidence to allow him to make a decision about a complaint that an article in the Irish Sun about a deceased person was in breach of Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that there is insufficient evidence to enable him to make a decision about a number of complaints from a family member that an article published about a murder victim in the News of the World was in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy), 3 (Fairness and Honesty) and 4 (Respect for Rights) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.