Press Releases

 

The Chairman of the Press Council of Ireland, Professor Tom Mitchell, today (24 May) made “an urgent plea” to all newspapers and periodicals to become members of the Press Council. He was speaking at the launch of the 2009 Annual Report of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Dermot Ahern TD.

Welcome, I want especially to welcome the Minister. It is very appropriate that he should be here for the launch of this Annual Report, since one of the major developments of the past year affecting the Press Council has been the enactment of the Defamation Bill and the subsequent recognition of the Press Council of Ireland under the provisions of the Act. We are most grateful to the Minister for bringing all of this to a conclusion, and for his supportive attitude towards the Council since he became Minister for Justice.

“The success of the Office of the Press Ombudsman in providing a fair hearing for complaints about newspapers and periodicals is highlighted by the fact that virtually half of all the decisions made by the Press Ombudsman either upheld complaints or concluded that the publications concerned took or offered to take sufficient remedial action to resolve the complaint,” the Press Ombudsman, Professor John Horgan, said today (Monday 24 May 2010).

Chairperson, directors and members of the Press Council, The Press Ombudsman and Ladies and Gentlemen.

Appointment of Independent Members and of Chairman for the Press Council of Ireland -

 

The approval by both Houses of the Oireachtas today (Tuesday April 20th) of a draft order recognising the Press Council of Ireland under the 2009 Defamation Act will greatly benefit the operations of the Council, the Office of the Press Ombudsman, and the press generally, according to the Chairman of the Council.

Good afternoon Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to address today’s seminar and I’d like to thank the Press Ombudsman, Professor John Horgan, for his kind invitation asking me to take part in this important event.

The Data Protection Commissioner, Mr Billy Hawkes, the businessman Mr Ben Dunne, and the editor of the Irish Daily Mirror, Mr John Kierans, will be among the speakers at a public seminar on privacy being organized by the Press Council of Ireland in Cork on Friday, January 15th.