Sir, - Two recent court cases are perceived as being relevant when gauging the current standing of the media, in particular the print media, in Ireland today. The coverage given by The Irish Times to the Michelle Rocca case was viewed by many of your readers as excessive and almost prurient - was the serious press also on the slippery slope? The discharge of the jury in the De Rossa libel case was then greeted in media circles as a victory for a free press which gives us, the people, the truth. I wish to tell you and your readers what a free press has meant for one individual and his family.
Liam Whitney was aged 37 when his body was recovered from the sea at Galway on Good Friday last. The first 36 years of his all too short life had been filled with success. He was a brilliant student at CBS, Tullamore. He then went on to achieve sporting success in GAA football, representing Tullamore and Offaly. In 1977, he won under 18, under 21 and 50 county medals. Liam worked for 20 years with the Midland Health Board, mainly in its finance department, where he was a highly competent, loyal and diligent public servant. In recent years, Liam had again resumed his studies and passed his final accountancy exams. He was finishing his last accountancy project when illness intervened last year.
To the eyes of the general public, his illness would have gone unnoticed but for his breaching of English public park bye laws on two occasions. Liam never harmed, or even threatened to harm, anybody. However, the link between these minor transgressions and a royal personage was made and seized upon, initially by the British tabloid press, and, subsequently, without any apparent scruples, by the Irish media.
What does it mean to become a tabloid press target? For Liam Whitney it meant that his vulnerability because of illness was dismissed his helplessness and inability to fight back was interpreted by, the print media as a licence to ignore the real situation. Why let the facts spoil a good story? For Liam's family it meant being tormented by phone calls from reporters and others with less than pure motives.
It also meant the unwelcome presence of reporters accompanied by photographers (with the ubiquitous zoom lenses) outside the family home. When a story or photograph did not emerge from this siege of the family home, Liam's work colleagues were harassed. Finally, the pubs of Tullamore were trawled, yielding the quote from the "friend" who did not wish to be named When Liam's father died last July, the tabloid press again did not feel that any restraint was warranted and proceeded to give a rehash of old copy. The inclusion of an expression of sympathy in some cases was a vain attempt to give a semblance of decency to what was a character assassination. Liam and his family maintained their dignity in the course of all this trauma. I can only recall one newspaper article which lent some support to Liam's cause in all that time. In sharp contrast to lack of understanding of his illness and complete disregard for his privacy in the press, his family, friends and those involved in his care always supported him and hoped for a full recovery. Liam was actually back working when tragedy struck again.
Liam had been missing for the three weeks prior to the recovery of his body on Good Friday. It was a time of great stress for his family and friends. The only comfort on Good Friday was the knowledge that he would now be at peace. From my earliest days I was taught and I accepted that if it was within my power, it was my duty to help anybody in trouble and that I was never to speak ill of the dead: I understood that these were universal laws of common decency. Is it now the case that a major proportion of the print media, in Ireland, considers itself, to be above the basic laws of decency? On the basis of the articles which appeared on Easter Saturday, the answer must be yes.
I have no fear of contradiction in writing that the entire community here in Tullamore was utterly revolted by the articles published following Liam's death. There has been an assault on common decency and our sense of fairness. Unlike previous articles published in the Irish papers, blame cannot, be, attributed to, the British tabloids first running a story. On Easter Saturday, most of the Irish press willingly wall owed in a gutter of its own creation.
Hundreds of people paid their respects to Liam at the funeral services. There were guards of honour by his GAA team mates and by his work colleagues. Let the record show that Liam Whitney was an honourable decent and in many ways, a gifted man.
If we are to have a free press let it also be fair accurate and accountable should it be that a private individual and his family, in a time of crisis, should also have to contend with the type of press coverage, outlined above? Access to the libel laws and apologies tucked away in the unseen corners of newspapers do not seem, to me, adequate protection for ordinary decent people against the risk of unfair or inappropriate comment by a free press. Neither can assurances by editors that matters will be properly handled next time round be always accepted.
Liam Whitney, brother in law, friend and colleague may you now rest in peace. - Yours, etc.,
Tullamore,
Co Offaly.