O’Donoghue and the Irish Sunday Mirror

Decision of the Press Council.

The Press Council initially found no grounds for a full consideration of the appeal. But subsequent representations from the newspaper highlighted a procedural issue affecting one element of the Press Ombudsman’s decision which the Council decided was significant and constituted reasonable grounds for admitting the appeal.

The newspaper argued that one finding in the Ombudsman’s decision, which concluded that a quotation attributed to the complainant was inaccurate and misleading and a breach of Principle I of the Code, was invalid because it concerned a matter which had not been raised by the complainant, and because the newspaper had not been informed of the new issue and had therefore been denied the right of response.

The Council considered the appeal in great detail. It decided that the Press Ombudsman and Press Council have the right, and the duty, to take into account all the evidence before them which has a bearing on a complaint and on the decision as to whether the complaint is justified or not under the provisions of the Code. But the Council also strongly affirmed the principle that all accusations of breaches of the Code must be disclosed to the newspaper ahead of any decision, and the opportunity to respond must be provided. This had not happened in regard to the element of the Ombudsman’s decision which dealt with the quotation attributed in the article to the complainant. The Council decided that this element of the decision was rendered invalid by the procedural omission, and it therefore allowed the appeal in respect of it.

The remainder of the Press Ombudsman’s decision was upheld.