1281/2022 - Glenveagh and the Irish Examiner

The editor of the Irish Examiner appealed the decision of the Press Ombudsman to uphold in part that Principle 1 of the Code of Practice had been breached.   He appealed the decision to the Press Council of Ireland on the grounds that there had been an error in the Press Ombudsman’s application of Principle 1 of the Code.

The Press Council considered the appeal at its meeting on Friday, 8 July 2022 and decided to uphold the appeal.

The Council recognised that as a clarification of one aspect of the article had been published speedily in the online version of the article there was a good case for concluding, as the Ombudsman had done, that Principle 1 required that an identical clarification should be published in the print edition of the newspaper.  However, in this particular instance it had been the intention of both parties to negotiate a full agreed statement covering a range of issues going beyond the subject of the initial clarification.  Considerable time and effort were devoted to these negotiations, even though they eventually failed. The Council concluded that it was reasonable in these circumstances for the editor to believe that there was no requirement on him to publish a partial correction during a process of conciliation aimed at arriving at an agreed text.   It also noted that no request for a partial clarification in the print edition had been made during the process.