OBroin and the Irish Independent

Complaint

Mr Ultan Ó Broin claimed that a consumer advice article in the Irish Independent on 17 May 2008 was in breach of Principle 1 of the Code of Practice (Truth and Accuracy). He believed the advice given encouraged readers to instruct their solicitors to lie in an effort to get out of penalty clauses on non-use of foreign property, and was therefore misleading and encouraged readers to break the law.

The newspaper did not accept the complainant’s interpretation of the article, and it did not accept that the article suggested that readers instruct solicitors to lie in relation to timeshares.

Decision

Mr Ó Broin’s complaint is effectively about the adequacy and/or legality of advice given in a consumer feature article. Such advice by its very nature is subjective, and it is not the function of the Press Ombudsman to determine its adequacy or legality: the function of the Press Ombudsman is to determine whether or not the article or any significant element of it breaches Principle 1. There is no evidence that the article was designed to mislead or distort any facts, as asserted, and while the complainant may disapprove of the advice offered, there was no evidence that any factual information contained in the article was untruthful or inaccurate. The complaint is therefore not upheld.

5 September 2008