Sir, - I feel I must personally respond to the inaccuracies of fact and misinterpretations of intent contained in your coverage on Saturday last of a meeting which took place on September 4th, 1996 at which I was present, together with a colleague and a consultant to independent Newspapers, PLC.
Independent Newspapers is a 50 per cent shareholder in Princes Holdings, which was awarded MMDS licences in 1990 by the then Government to rebroadcast television signals to a number of regions within the State. The other shareholders in Princes Holdings are international companies - which specialise in TV programming and cable and "wireless" transmission of TV signals.
As shareholders in Princes Holdings, independent Newspapers attended a meeting last September with an adviser to the Government, to urge it to enforce the law in relation to the activities of the illegal rebroadcasters. When the MMDS licences were issued in the early 1990s, the then Government promised to shut down the illegal operators within a short period. It was on the basis of this commitment that Princes Holdings began a major investment programme to offer a state of the art service to its customers.
At the date of the September 1996 meeting, the illegal rebroadcasters had not been shut down and all of the companies which had been granted MMDS licences were, as a consequence, suffering financially. The meeting had a number of purposes, all of which related to the commercial interests of independent Newspapers in the MMDS business.
In relation to the quote they would lose independent Newspapers as friends, this was in the context of independent Newspapers no longer being able to restrain its international partners from taking legal action through Princes Holdings to seek compensation for losses arising from the Government's inaction on the illegal operators.
At no stage was the editorial policy of independent Newspapers discussed. Neither myself, nor my colleagues at that meeting, issued the threat quoted in the story by Geraldine Kennedy that "we will mount a full frontal assault on you, as a Government, in the election". Ms Kennedy never put this alleged threat to Independent Newspapers prior to publication of her story. Had she done so, it would have been denied by the three people who represented independent Newspapers at that meeting.
Finally, I would like to restate the right of all individuals and organisations to meet with the elected Government or its representatives. independent Newspapers, on behalf of its shareholders and employees, has a legitimate right to seek and attend meetings on matters which concern its interests. The group will continue to exercise that right.
Yours, etc.,
Chief Executive,
Independent Newspapers, Upper Hatch Street,
Dublin 2.