Madam, - Last week there were notices in the national press advertising for six independent members for the new Press Council of Ireland.
The latest coverage in some newspapers of the tragic death in childbirth of a young garda and the linking of her distraught garda husband to the tragedy of Abbeylara has bordered on the obscene.
Recent coverage of high-profile manslaughter and murder trials where the alleged perpetrators have been tried and convicted by certain newspapers provides other examples of how far our once esteemed and credible newspaper industry has gone down the road in imitation of its worst British tabloid counterparts.
I urge members of the public to apply for these six positions on the Press Council so that they can express their disgust at the treatment of this young garda's family and demand an explanation and very public apology from the newspapers concerned. - Yours etc,
KEITH NOLAN, Caldragh, Carrick~on~Shannon, Co Leitrim.