Publisher criticises cocaine book author

The publishers of the controversial book High Societyhave criticised its author for not keeping a digital recording of an alleged interview with a Government minister who admitted to taking cocaine.

Gill & Macmillan said yesterday the journalist Justine Delaney Wilson should not have destroyed the recording.

The company also accused her of misleading them in relation to what interviews were conducted on tape and what were written down and said she had now "placed herself in a completely unsatisfactory position" in relation to her credibility.

RTÉ is now conducting an internal review into the recently broadcast two-part documentary which was based on her book.

It contained a claim that a Government minister allegedly admitted to the author: "Yes I do take drugs - just coke though - regularly enough. I'm certainly not the only one around here that does. The hypocrisy that surrounds it really galls me."

RTÉ has come under pressure from the Government to substantiate the claim regarding the minister.

In a statement issued yesterday, Gill & Macmillan said it was given to believe from the author that the interview with the politician, known as "Robert" was not an audio recording, but was based on contemporaneous notes which were taken at the time and was part of a so-called "A list" of interviews which were taken down in note form.

"However, the author has now admitted, through her own solicitors, that all subjects were recorded including the politician . . . at no time did we have reason to believe that there was any audio version of the A list," Gill & Macmillan said.

The publishing company said Delaney Wilson destroyed both the recordings and the transcript of the interview with the politician on the advice of her solicitor because she had come under intense pressure from other media sources to reveal the politician's identity.

"She did this without reference to us or to our lawyers. Had she contacted us, we would have advised her strongly against this course and arranged to have the material placed in safe keeping."

An RTÉ spokeswoman said last night that there was similarities between the statement issued by Gill & Macmillan and the one issued by them on Monday night in which they also said that they believed the politician interview was only in note form.

The issue may be brought up at the RTÉ Authority meeting which is scheduled for tomorrow.

Delaney Wilson is currently on holidays in New Zealand and will not be back until the end of the month.

Her current solicitor Karyn Hardy, who was not the one that advised her to destroy the tapes, said the author is not in a position to respond to the allegations made against her at the moment because she is in a different time zone, but is being unfairly victimised for protecting her sources.

"She was subject to fierce pressure in the most egregious circumstances to reveal her source."