Dunne and the Enniscorthy Guardian

The Press Ombudsman has decided that an article published in the Enniscorthy Guardian on 13 April 2011 reporting on an inquest into the death of a local woman did not breach the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

Mr and Mrs Bernard Dunne complained that personal details about their late daughter disclosed in evidence at an inquest into her death and included in an article reporting on the inquest were unnecessary and insensitive to the feelings of the grieving family. The family were particularly annoyed at the publication of the material as they had requested the newspaper to be ‘extra sensitive’ in reporting the inquest into their daughter’s death.

The editor of the newspaper apologised for any upset caused to the family as a result of the publication of the article, and offered to publish a follow-up article giving the family an opportunity to say how upset they were at how their daughter was portrayed at the inquest. When this offer was turned down by the family, the editor wrote directly to them to reiterate his apology for the upset caused. The family remained of the view that the only resolution to their complaint would be the publication of an apology by the newspaper.

There is no doubt that the article in question caused deep upset to the Dunne family. But equally, there is no doubt that the newspaper did not set out to cause upset: it published details of evidence given at an inquest held in public, some of which was unpleasant and deeply upsetting for the family to read, but the truth or accuracy of the report concerned was not in dispute. It also made it clear that it had responded to the family’s request for sensitivity by omitting some of the evidence given in open court at the inquest.
While recognizing the obvious distress caused to the grieving family, the Press Ombudsman found that this article was not a breach of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

13 September 2011

The complainant appealed the decision of the Press Ombudsman to the Press Council of Ireland.