3986/2018 - A Woman and Independent.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 that there was an error in the Press Ombudsman’s application of the Code of Practice.   The Press Council considered the appeal 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.