Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has accused Minister for Justice Alan Shatter of acting in an “opportunistic” manner in the wake of the controversy surrounding the publication of topless photos of Kate Middleton in the Irish Daily Star.
Mr Shatter has said he will revisit the Privacy Bill. “He just saw cynically an opportunity to get himself into the headlines because of what’s happening with the photographs,” Mr Martin said. “I think it’s adding by the way to the over-the-top reaction to that whole episode.”
He regretted that editor Michael O’Kane had been suspended. “I think we need to have a sense of perspective . . The idea of jumping on the bandwagon in an opportunistic manner I think is regrettable.”
Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists Séamus Dooley said the threat of privacy legislation by Mr Shatter was “a worrying development with serious implications”. He added: “Mr Shatter is again threatening to revisit a deeply flawed piece of legislation.”