Peter Feeney appointed new Press Ombudsman

Peter Feeney has been appointed the new Press Ombudsman and will replace Prof John Horgan when he retires in September.

Mr Feeney has been a member of the Press Council of Ireland since October 2013

He was RTÉ’s Freedom of Information Officer from 2000, and later became Head of Broadcast Compliance and managed RTÉ’s processes in dealing with complaints to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

He was also responsible for the production of guidelines and training in programme standards. From 1990 to 1997 he was Editor of Current Affairs Television in RTÉ.

Before joining RTÉ he lectured in politics in the University of Ulster.

“I am delighted that Peter Feeney has accepted the Press Council’s invitation to be our next Press Ombudsman,” the chairman of the Press Council of Ireland, Daithí O’Ceallaigh said in a statement.

“He has enjoyed a long and respected media career with a strong commitment to standards in journalism, news and current affairs. Mr Feeney has considerable experience in the area of compliance and complaint handling and we look forward very much to working with him”

The Press Council and the office of the Press Ombudsman administer a voluntary system of oversight for the newspaper and magazine industry and was established in 2007