3714/2018 - A Woman and the IrishSun.ie

Decision of the Press Council

The appeals were heard by the Press Council at its meeting on 6 July 2018.

The complainant appealed the Press Ombudsman’s decision on the grounds that there was an error in the Press Ombudsman’s application of the Code of Practice.  The Press Council decided that the appeal was not admissible because it did not contain sufficient evidence to support the grounds cited.

The publication appealed the Press Ombudsman’s decision on the grounds (a) that significant new information was available that could not have been or was not made available to the Press Ombudsman before he made his decision and (b) that there was an error in the Press Ombudsman’s application of the Code of Practice.   The Press Council considered the appeal under (a) and decided to reject it on the grounds that no significant new information was submitted.  The Press Council considered the appeal under (b) and decided to uphold the appeal on the grounds that the Press Ombudsman based his decision on the relevance of the information complained about, where relevance under Principle 5 of the Code does not arise in circumstances where the information was already on the public record or in the public domain, and where its accuracy was not disputed.  The Press Council decided therefore to uphold the appeal.

Note: The complainant has exercised her right under data protection legislation to have this decision reported in an anonymous form