Mr Tony Walsh and The Irish Times

The Press Council of Ireland decided not to uphold a complaint by Mr Tony Walsh of Educate.ie that an article published in The Irish Times on 6 October 2014 was in breach of Principle 2.3 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

Mr. Walsh complained that the article was in breach of the Code of Practice because it failed to disclose that the Managing Director of The Irish Times was a former director of a company referred to in the article.  Mr Walsh listed a series of articles written by The Irish Times since the appointment of the managing director, which he claimed supported his complaint.

The Irish Times stated that the previous directorships of its managing director had no bearing whatsoever on what was written in the newspaper,  and that the editorial content is and always was the sole preserve of the editor. 

The Press Council decided not to uphold the complaint.

31 January 2015