Madam, – While it is correct to say that Brian Lenihan’s well-being is a matter of national interest (Sean Ward, December 30th), it is quite wrong of Mr Ward to justify the leaking of news of Mr Lenihan’s illness by referring to the “suppression in the past of information to which the people were entitled” as if this was some long-running story which had been hidden from the public.
It appears to have been merely days between Minister Lenihan’s diagnosis and TV3’s decision to break it on St Stephen’s Day, before he and his family had time to digest the news, much less discuss it among family and friends. Would it have been too much to wait another week or so to allow the Minister to issue a statement in his own time, or have we lost all sense of decency? My heartfelt wishes go to him and his family at this most difficult time. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I am appalled by the crassness of TV3’s intrusion into the privacy of Brian Lenihan and his family. Its behaviour would be appalling at any time of year, but to sensationalise a story like this on St Stephen’s Day is surely a new low in media behaviour, a low to which even the much-maligned redtops would hardly stoop. The justification offered by TV3’s director of news, Andrew Hanlon, that they gave Mr Lenihan 48 hours to tell his family is even more crass than the intrusion itself.
Mr Lenihan has been the outstanding politician in Ireland over the past year, standing head and shoulders above every other politician from every other party. I wish him well as he deals with his illness and hope he makes a full recovery. He would be sorely missed if his illness caused him to be absent from public life, something that could not be said of Mr Hanlon or, indeed, his employer. – Yours, etc,