Journalists must be aware of the immense power they have to do good, the outgoing editor of The Irish Times, Mr Conor Brady, said last night. But they must also be conscious of the capacity which they have, in their privileged position, to cause hurt and damage if they use their power carelessly or without regard to basic rules of fairness.
He was addressing staff in the newsroom before he announced the appointment of Geraldine Kennedy as his successor.
This is an edited version of his address:
"I would like to express my great thanks and my admiration to those who worked with me. An editor is only as good as his or her colleagues. And I have had some of the best colleagues any editor could have. Some have moved on to do other things. I'd like to acknowledge also the great contribution of those colleagues who have left the newspaper over the past 12 months. I would also ask you to remember the contribution of those colleagues from the newspaper who have died over the past 16 years.
"Don't ever take for granted the fact that you work with The Irish Times. This is a rare thing in the 21st century - a newspaper that controls its own destiny, that stands for honest, principled journalism, that isn't in anybody's pocket and that pays its own way. We're not perfect. But even in the worst of recent difficulties, we've produced a newspaper each night that we can be proud of.
"Everyone who works in a newspaper plays a vital part. But never forget that the heart of The Irish Times is its journalism. Yes, it's wonderful to have a state-of-the-art plant at Citywest. Yes, it's important to have the lion's share of the quality advertising market. But it's all built on what journalists do. The engine that pulls the whole train is the journalism of The Irish Times.
"Never forget the power we wield through that journalism. Use it wisely and justly. As journalists we have an immense capacity for doing good. We also have an immense capacity to damage, to injure, to hurt if we use our power carelessly, without regard to basic fairness, or in ways that are partisan or biased.
"Never forget that we work for the readers. We work for the 320,000 people who turn to this newspaper every day to know what's going on in this society and in the wider world. If we look after the readers, they will look after us. If we take them for fools, or if we underestimate their ability to discern fact from supposition, analysis from polemic, they will cease to have faith in us.
"Never forget the privileged position we hold as part of the most respected newspaper in this society. And never forget those less privileged than we who count on us to keep the focus of public thinking on the inequalities and the injustices in this society.
"Journalists are privileged people. That obliges us to keep the focus on the marginalised, on the people who can't get their cancer treatment because they live in the wrong place, on the mothers who can't get the right education for kids with learning difficulties, on the immigrants, on the widows, on the addicts and the alcoholics, on the victims of abuse, on those who think that life isn't worth living any more.
"And we have to keep pouring out the boiling oil on those who evade their responsibilities, those who exploit their positions and those who victimise the weakest in society.
"I would ask you to beware of three things. Beware the mindset of partition. It's deeply rooted in this community and it has to be resisted always. This was a 32-county newspaper for 100 years before there was a Border. This is too small an island to allow one part of it to fester forever in sectarianism and hate.
"Beware the mindset of metropolitanism; the conviction that civilised life doesn't exist beyond Templeogue and Malahide. Don't let The Irish Times go back to being a newspaper for the Dublin middle classes.
"Beware the 'Little Irelanders'. They are trivial people. They're everywhere and they are dangerous. The global village is a full and present reality. The great issues of our time are not whether Bertie will marry Celia or if a particular politician is gay or straight.
"The great issues are the poisoning of the planet, the spread of nuclear weapons, the tide of AIDS and the economic stagnation of the Third World, with the accompanying evils of hunger, disease and ignorance. It's our job to be out there, reporting them.
"And don't let anybody tell you that this newspaper is over-reaching itself. Don't let anybody tell you that the difficulties of the past year grew from the fact that the journalists of The Irish Times built a newspaper that was too broad or too deep in its reach.
"Other people did not discharge their duties or their responsibilities with the same professionalism, commitment or competence that we, the journalists of the newspaper did.
"I am aware that each and every person here has put in a spectacular effort over these past 12 months. We came through to the end of June, as you probably know, with the highest readership figures ever, a growth of 12 per cent year-on-year. That's a tribute to the professionalism and to the values of Irish Times journalism.
"I also want to assure you that you now have in this organisation a fine and able commercial structure, headed by Maeve Donovan. I wish I had had that structure at my back through some of the years gone by. And you have a reformed, regenerated Trust which will protect the paper's independence as the Trust always did.
"I thank you all for being part of this great enterprise with me. Go forward now, to new heights, to more scoops, to a future of great journalism. I wish each and every one of you, your families and those close to you, every success and happiness for the future. Long life to a great newspaper."
Announcing Geraldine Kennedy as his successor, Mr Brady said that, when he announced his intention to step down last July, he had expressed the hope that when the time came his successor would be from within the newspaper. He was pleased that this was so. Geraldine Kennedy was a journalist of courage, principle and determination.