Kennedy praised for courageous journalism

SPECIAL AWARD:FORMER Irish Times editor Geraldine Kennedy has been given a special award for her outstanding contribution to the newspaper industry.

Ms Kennedy was a “pioneer for women in the field of political journalism and a doughty fighter for the freedom of the press”, said the citation from the National Newspapers of Ireland the representative group for the industry.

Ms Kennedy became the newspaper’s first woman editor in 2002 after a distinguished career as a political correspondent and political editor.

She figured in the illegal phone-tapping scandal where her home phone and that of fellow journalist Bruce Arnold were tapped in an affair that came back to trigger the downfall of Charles Haughey.

One of her most significant decisions as Irish Times editor was to publish details of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s personal finances, which she did at “great personal risk”, the ceremony was told.

“It was an important stand, taken at great personal risk, for the right of the public to be fully informed about their political leaders and for the duty of journalists to do what Geraldine Kennedy has done so supremely throughout her career: get the story out there, ” said Frank Cullen, co-ordinating director of the NNI.

Ms Kennedy’s played acentral role in period leading up to the establishment of the inaugural Press Council of Ireland and the Office of the Press Ombudsman.

Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte said she was “one of the most courageous journalists of my generation” her fearlessness and “contribution to public life in Ireland”.