THERE WAS an interesting, correction in our Corrections and Clarifications, column the other day, but then there often is.

People regularly ask me about our "Corrs and Clars" office as we at the Irish Times know it informally.

The irony is that it is a very formal place. It originated years ago as a mere cubby hole with one part time employee (superannuated from ink quality control duties), but over the years has expanded in direct proportion to our readers increasing litigiousness. Indeed, gaily coloured graphs showing this co relation are a popular gift item from the photosales office.

Currently the C&C department is staffed by approximately 30 highly trained individuals, all of them trained in pre emptive strike techniques, legalese penetration theory and advanced soothing methods. Three fully qualified aromatherapists are also on hand in the casualty bay to deal with the seriously aggrieved who have by passed their lawyers and need instant attention.

It is a droll office joke that the place drips with large jars of, honey lovingly harvested from our, rooftop apiary, but certainly it is the place to go when balm is in short supply.

The state of the art C&C offices are the envy of newsroom colleagues. To say they are "well appointed" would be an understatement. The reception area is a sunken oasis of deep carpeting, intimate couches and pastel colours expertly chosen for their stress reduction qualities. A drinks cabinet re stocked twice daily is open to visitors, and is abused far less often than one might imagine.

The similarity with a five star hotel had led one office wag to christen the department "The Writs".

But I digress.

Earlier this month this newspaper printed a report that the National Women's Council, following unsuccessful attempts to recruit a new chief executive, wad now considering trying to head hunt a suitable woman currently in another post.

The reaction to the report at the NWC caused a flurry of activity in Corrs and Clars (not that one would ever notice any perturbance behind the sound proof, frosted glass doors), and a paragraph was later printed to inform readers that instead of "a suitable woman", the Council had in mind "a suitable person.

In other words the position was being offered regardless of sex.

So any man who fancies the responsibility for a staff of 10, looking after 152 affiliate groups with a total membership of over 300,000 women, has just a good a chance of getting the job as a woman. Such is the implication.

Naturally there are fewer women than men earning £35,000, which suggests the female pool of potential applicants is bigger, but that is hardly the point. The odd thing is that since the correction was published, I have been wandering through our offices offering excellent odds (50 to 1) against a man becoming chief executive of the NWC, but so far have had not a single taker. No one I have spoken to thinks there is the slightest possibility of a man getting the job.

It seems odd then to have a "correction" issued by our overworked C&C department, when the "correction", instead of correcting a mistaken impression, serves only to create such an impression.

Meanwhile the NWC chairwoman Noirin Byrne has been quoted in Newsweek as making the following comment about men: "The feeling is, why bother to live with them (men) and wash their socks, just go out and play with them.

Fine Gael TD Theresa Ahearn has taken exception to these "disparaging comments" about men, Ms Byrne contends that she is merely repeating the views of young women, and the row continues.

I had a word about this with Matthew Stirrup. Matthew is acting chief executive of the National Men's Council. That is not to say the job is open, though whenever it is it will of course be open to men and women: when I say Matthew is acting chief executive I mean he is acting in a small amateur role with his local drama society and is chief executive only whenever he has a bit of free time.

Anyway, Matthew is not in the least upset, but is quite happy to have Theresa Ahearn TD upset on his behalf. Incidentally, Matthew hardly ever has the problem of being quoted or misrepresented in any way, mainly because as acting CE of the National Men's Council he is hardly ever quoted or represented at all.

We are all very fond of Matthew here, and the people who are fondest of him are the people in the Corrections and Clarifications office, whose services he has never yet called on. {CORRECTION} 97011800033