McCreevy questions `Irish Times' coverage

The Minister for Finance has criticised The Irish Times for its treatment of the passports affair. Mr McCreevy claimed the newspaper's original article, published last Saturday, was a "regurgitation" of known facts and said it was "legitimate" to ask whether it had possession then of the socalled Cole report, which was published on Monday.

On RTE's Morning Ireland programme, the Minister said he had "never used the word conspiracy" in a Dail statement on Wednesday. But he was raising "what I regard as pretty legitimate questions. It is legitimate for both the opposition and the media to investigate the activities of politicians, particularly those in power, but it is also legitimate to ask media people what their agenda is in some of the matters."

Asked which "media people" he was talking about, he continued:

"Well, I'm particularly referring to The Irish Times who on Saturday morning last led with a frontpage story which headlined, `Ahern had Burke investigated over passports for Arab banker'."

Richard Crowley: "Which was true."

Mr McCreevy: "And went on to regurgitate the particular matter there. Yet on Monday morning, without any notice on the front page at all, except in the middle of an article, they produced on the inside pages the Cole report commissioned by the Department of Justice.

"And I think it is legitimate to ask did The Irish Times when it ran with the story on Saturday have in its possession the Cole report and if so, why didn't they publish it at the same time because effectively the Cole report negatived the allegations of Saturday morning's paper."

Richard Crowley: "Were any of the stories in Saturday's papers untrue?"

Charlie McCreevy: "The story in Saturday morning's paper was a regurgitation of the facts as before and it was published in various newspapers . . . I'm asking the legitimate question: why wasn't the Cole report published on Saturday morning? And I think that is a legitimate question."

Mr McCreevy also wondered whether the Opposition had leaked details to The Irish Times.

"You could also legitimately ask the question regarding the story in Saturday morning's paper: did The Irish Times contact the minister, the former minister for justice, Deputy Nora Owen, about this particular matter?"

Asked if he included RTE in his criticisms, he said: "I think there may be some people in your organisation [who] have an agenda."

When it was suggested to him that if he had a complaint he should put it to the newspaper, the National Union of Journalists and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission, Mr McCreevy said:

"Actually over a period of years I have repeated criticism, particularly with The Irish Times, and in fairness to the editor we met last year over lunch to discuss some of the matters I raised with him and we agreed to disagree."

Mr McCreevy also suggested that some politicians had been cowed by fear of the press.

"I have branded certain sections of the media and I have done this on previous occasions when they had questions to answer and I'll continue to do so."

The Minister was also critical of Opposition behaviour in the Burke affair, particularly that of the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton: "I think that where I come from in Ireland it is common decency [to have] a suspension of political and personal vendettas at times of bereavement.

"Ray Burke's brother died last Friday night, and this was known to the media on Saturday morning. It was known particularly to Deputy Bruton and others in his party . . . It wouldn't have lessened their cause or their political campaign to suspend hostilities until his brother was buried.

"Where I live, where I was brought up, that was always understood to be the case."

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