Decided by the Press Ombudsman

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint that an article in The Kerryman about a court hearing was in breach of Principle 5 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines. A complaint that the article had breached Principle 7 (Court Reporting) was not upheld.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that the Sunday Independent made an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint by Mr Neil Sharpson that an article published on 25 August 2013, reporting certain claims about alternative technologies, was in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy) and 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that the Sunday Independent made an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint by Mr Tom White that an article on fracking published on 14 July 2013 was in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy) and 2  (Distinguishing Fact and Comment) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided  not to uphold a complaint by Ms Deirdre Walshe that  accounts of two Employment Appeal Tribunal hearings, published in the Irish Examiner on 22 and 23 November,  were in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy),  2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment) and 4 (Respect for Rights) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that an offer made by the Irish Daily Mirror constituted sufficient remedial action to remedy a complaint by Journal Media Limited (publishers of TheJournal.ie, an online news site) about a breach of Principle 5 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a complaint by Mr Paul Murphy MEP about an article published on 4 August 2013 in the Sunday Independent, written by another politician, which criticised his political position on Palestine.  Mr Murphy complained that the article was in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy) and 4 (Respect for Rights) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines, because the newspaper had not granted him a right of reply of equal length and prominence to the article about which he had complained.

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint made by Mr Dirk Folens that the inclusion of an architect’s plan of the layout of his home in an article published in the Irish Mail on Sunday on 26 May 2013 breached Principle 5 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that the Irish Mail on Sunday made an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint made by Mr Niall O’Flaherty that an article published in that newspaper on 7 April 2013 breached the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.     

The Press Ombudsman has decided that The Irish Times made an offer of  sufficient remedial action to resolve  a complaint by Mr Harry Browne that the newspaper’s  review of a book he wrote about Bono, published on 13 June 2013, contained erroneous statements (Principle 1), comment or conjecture reported as fact (Principle 2) and unfounded accusations (Principle 4).   A further complaint under Principle 4 was not upheld.

The Press Ombudsman has upheld a complaint made by the editor of the Echo Newspaper Group, Mr Tom Mooney, that articles published on 26 March 2013 in the Wexford People, the New Ross Standard, the Enniscorthy Guardian and the Gorey Guardian (all published by The People Newspapers Limited)   were in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy)  and 7 (Court Reporting) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.