Decided by the Press Ombudsman

The Press Ombudsman has decided that The Irish Times made an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint by Luke Gardiner Ltd. that an article in that newspaper on 11 February 2010 relating to a property owned by the complainants in Henrietta Street, Dublin, had breached Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy), 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment), 3 (Fairness and Honesty) and 4 (Respect for Rights) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a number of complaints made by Mr James Byrne, through his solicitors, that references to him in articles in the Sunday World on 16 May 2010 and 30 May 2010 were in breach of Principles 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a complaint made by Mr Eoin O Leidhin, on behalf of the Rossport Solidarity Camp, that an article published in the Sunday Independent on 25 July entitled “Polish ‘anarchist’ linked to Corrib gas pipeline protest” breached Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) and Principle 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that on the basis of the information before him he cannot make a decision on a complaint that articles published in the Irish Daily Star Sunday on 14 March 2010 and the Irish Daily Star on 15 March 2010 were in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy), Principle 3 (Fairness and Honesty) and Principle 5 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.  

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint made on behalf of Ms Jean Treacy that an article in the Irish Daily Mail on 19 June 2010 was in breach of Principle 5 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Periodicals. A number of other complaints about the article were not upheld.

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a complaint by Mr Matthew Connolly, Director of Connolly Footwear, that an article in the Irish Independent concerning an industrial dispute at the company breached Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy), 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment), and 3 (Fairness and Honesty) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The Press Ombudsman has decided that the Evening Herald made an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint made on behalf of Mr Thomas Dumbrell about an article published in the Evening Herald on l6 February, which he complained breached Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) and Principle 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Periodicals.

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint made by Mr James Gantley that a statement published in an article in the Sunday World breached Principle 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Periodicals. However, on the basis of the information available, there is insufficient evidence available to him to make a finding on Mr Gantley’s complaint that the statement was untrue in breach of Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy).

The Press Ombudsman has decided that the Irish Sunday Mirror made an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint made by Dr James McDaid TD about a breach of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Periodicals in an article published on 11 April about a traffic accident in which he was involved.