A son of the former Fianna Fáil TD, Liam Lawlor, yesterday criticised apologies published by various Sunday newspapers for their coverage of his father's death, saying they had done little to replace the "gut-wrenching" aspects of what had been printed.
Niall Lawlor, who delivered the eulogy at his father's funeral last week following his death in a car crash outside Moscow on October 22nd, said it was his belief that the newspapers "had a big enough story in the events themselves".
A number of Sunday newspapers last week published reports about the circumstances of Mr Lawlor's death which subsequently proved to be incorrect.
"A line was drawn in the sand that forever more if the name Liam Lawlor is punched up on the internet, this whole form of salacious material will be there for anybody to see," Mr Lawlor said.
While in some way he had to take the apologies "at face value", this did not in any way replace "what could have been a much more dignified approach."
There was, he said, "every opportunity" for "much more of the truth to be published and written."
"It still doesn't really replace the gut-wrenching aspects of what they seemed to so maliciously look to put out," Mr Lawlor said.
In an emotional interview on RTÉ radio yesterday, Mr Lawlor said an interpreter, Juliya Kushnir - who was travelling in the car when his father died, but survived the accident - was devastated.
"The poor woman was so distraught it was a very very difficult time. Her intention really was just to get back to her son," he said of his meeting with her in Moscow after the accident.
Mr Lawlor added that it was gratifying for the family and his mother, Hazel, to witness the large number of people from across the world of politics and business which turned out to support the family at the funeral on Thursday.
"It was very, very much a crutch of support for the family as a whole, but particularly for my mum," he said.