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Updated: 9am
MEDIA ORGANISATIONS NEED to find the right balance between not being intimidated by criminals and protecting their journalists, according to Seamus Dooley of the National Union of Journalists.
He made the comments after it emerged yesterday that a number of journalists at Independent News and Media (INM) have been told they could be in danger after working on so-called gangland crime stories over the past week.
Dooley told Morning Ireland the threats were not a surprise “on one level”.
“We have already seen that there are people who profit from the misery inflicted by drugs and that they do not respect human life so it’s probably not all that surprising that they don’t respect the rights of journalists, but at the same time it is shocking to think that 20 years after the death of Veronica Guerin that we are back here.”
It is understood that written warnings were sent by gardaí to two journalists working for INM titles, which include the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent, The Herald, the Sunday World and The Irish Daily Star.
Independent.ie / TwitterGood morning. Here is the front page of today's Irish Independent. Stay with us today pic.twitter.com/HmdRtO680W
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) February 12, 2016
Dooley said INM’s decision to go public with the information was “not taken lightly”.
“Threats against journalists are made on a regular basis, sometimes they’re at a very low scale.”
Security
Dooley said media organisations should review their security in light of recent events, adding that he is particularly concerned for freelance journalists and photographers who work alone.
He said journalists should not be used by gardaí to gather information about criminals.
We have always said that journalists operate independently of the state and that they should not be used to gather information.
He said that guards require information they should go to the courts and seek material under the order of a judge, but “only done where there is no alternative”.
Speaking on the same programme, INM editor-in-chief Stephen Rae the threats were “nothing to do whatsoever” with photos taken at the boxing weigh-in last Friday where David Byrne was shot dead, rather reporting details of gangland feuds.
He said INM is treating recent events with the “utmost seriousness” and has hired outside security consultants to do risk assessments, adding that gardaí are “monitoring the situation quite comprehensively”.
Rae said the current situation is “very volatile”, noting: “The risk to our journalists represents a risk to society at large.” He said the journalists in question and their colleagues will continue to report on gangland crime.
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The biggest ‘sh##show’ imaginable. I point the finger fairly and squarely at Simple Simon Harris. The cost is truly astonishing followed closely by incompetence on a stratospheric level. Let us not forget the poor kiddies that are being deprived of the care they deserve, all because of a government run by gimps.
@Andrew Kenny: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/reilly-insists-st-james-s-best-site-for-650m-children-s-hospital-1.1858282
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: Ah yes, Dr Reilly, should be called Little Jack Horner, as he had his thumb in many pies!
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: I’ve never understood why this wasn’t built at the Connolly hospital site in Blanchardstown. An absolute and enduring fiasco from start to eventual finish.
@honey badger: from what I heard it was because the consultants (probably some that signed this letter) wouldn’t move there, I wouldn’t take that as gospel though.
@honey badger: It would have been ideal, on the M50, readily accessible from anywhere, but no, vested interests take precedence!
@honey badger: or maybe in the midlands where it’s central to the whole country
@The next small thing: I have family in there and heard Southside consultants had the final say on it. Made to suit the Blackrock brigade a F the rest of us as per usual. No real surprises there to be honest.
@Andrew Kenny: FG gave the green light to proceed construction in the heart of Dublin City, we all know it should have been built in Blanchardstown, heavy traffic has always been a problem in this part of the city and now it’s going to be much heavier and will cause longer delays for everyone trying to negotiate traffic especially for people living in the area and commuters heading west towards Palmerstown, Lucan, Leixlip, Cellbridge.
@Adam H2022: anyone who thinks medical consultants had ANY say in where hospitals are located has no understanding of how the health system in Ireland works. All decisions like this are made by the department of health and politicians
No need to worry gang… it will be at least another year before this is open..no need to panic
@David Cotter: a complete joke
@Chutes Idiot: you’re optimistic… Wasn’t that hospital moved to a “2030 Project” some days after the November elections? I wish I were wrong though
Great breakdown on the fiasco here:
Shows this disaster is now well known around the World. I’ve also heard Bam might ask for another €853 million, pushing the total cost well past €3 billion.
@David Jordan: This is what happens when Student Union activists are running the government, like getting children to operate a nuclear reactor!
Well of course there’s going to be staff shortages. They’ve built a building. They haven’t built any kind of medical system that anyone in there right mind would want to work in. How any of the staff turn up for work everyday is beyond me. I mean frontline staff that are being ran into the ground day in day out. Having a recruitment embargo on irish nurses whole recruiting them from abroad is just a slap in the face to any junior nurse that was going to enter the system. If they have any sense they will be long gone and god bless them in there lives. The NCH was a ego project for fg.
Exactly where are the staff to treat the kiddies commung from .there is a lack of nurses and Dr’s as it is in ireland due to the extra long hours and awfull pay
@Karen Marten: “awful pay” Doctors!
@Michael Reilly: there are a thousand vacancies for consultants. They won’t return to Ireland while the conditions are so appalling. What has the minister for health to say about all this?
In another 2 years the hospital still won’t be open but the sick kids will be living out there grandparents back garden in a lag cabin
Import the third world, Become the third world!
POTA!
Enough of this debacle now, no point contributing to dialogue on this sad happening for children of this isle, it is what it is let’s wait until the doors are open.
Unless the minister gets the working conditions right for the medical and nursing staff the crisis continues.
Doctors do you real jobs and turn up for work at weekends
have your say