Funferal

Why Ireland needs media reform

There’s a fascinating article in today’s Irish Times detailing some of the pressure exerted by O’Reilly and Independent newspapers on the 1994-1997 government. The report is based on testimony by former Taoiseach John Bruton to the Moriarty Tribunal and it does bring the abuse of influence of O’Reilly into perspective. As Bruton says:

the fact that the Irish Independent chose to put an editorial on the front page of its newspaper [on election day\] urging people not to vote for a government which had succeeded in recording a 9 per cent annual growth rate in the economy during its term of office, does indicate a certain perversity of political opinion on the part of that newspaper.