THE story that has forced Mrs Maire Geoghegan Quinn to leave politics first appeared in the Terry Keane column in the Sunday Independent two weeks ago.
Ms Keane published a story saying Mrs Geoghegan Quinn left a Fianna Fail two day policy meeting in Malahide when she heard her son had been expelled from school. Ms Keane quoted the TD as suggesting that her son was paying a "very, very high price because of who he is". The story named Mrs Geoghegan Quinn's son and gave his age and the fact that he was due to sit the Leaving Cert this year.
The story involved students at St Mary's College, Galway, where Mrs Geoghegan Quinn's son is a pupil. A number of students were involved in an incident that has seemingly become an annual ritual, with senior students "sorting out" younger students. Gardai confirmed that an investigation was going ahead.
The incident took place on January 13th and a number of boys were subsequently interviewed by gardai. Six pupils were expelled, including Mrs Geoghegan Quinn's son.
"If he was anyone else's son, no journalist in the country would, have any interest," she said.
Ms Keane added her own comments, saying: "Well, you can't argue with that, can you? But Maire wouldn't be too happy if no journalist in the country had any interest in her son's mother."
The next account offering most detail appeared in the Star on January 22nd. It published the story under the headline: "Top school expels FF TD Maire's son."
It said: "Gardai have launched an investigation into a row at a Catholic diocesan college which resulted in the expulsion of six students - including a son of Fianna Fail health spokeswoman Maire Geoghegan Quinn."
The story named Mrs Geoghegan Quinn's son, adding that the family had rejected an offer that he be allowed to continue as a day pupil.
The Star quoted Mrs Geoghegan Quinn as saying: "I feel he is paying a very high price for who he is. I am unhappy at the manner in which six students involved have been singled out for expulsion before the full facts of the incident had been established.
The Daily Mirror also published the story in its Irish edition and named the boy. Unlike the Star, which published the story on an inside page, the Daily Mirror published it as a page one lead story, giving it far more prominence than in any other newspaper.
The Irish Times also published a story on the same day. It quoted a Garda spokesman as saying that a formal complaint had been made about the alleged incident and an investigation was in progress. The Garda spokesman said they were trying to establish whether events were of a criminal nature or not.
It was reported that six pupils were expelled after one student suffered "a suspected broken finger and three others were injured".
The Irish Times story published no names and no reference was made to Mrs Geoghegan Quinn, ore her son.
However, two days ago Ms Keane returned to the story in her column. She suggested that Mrs Geoghegan Quinn's son was not the only famous offspring involved and that a son of another Fianna Fail TD was a witness, though he was not expelled. She named the boy and his father.
Meanwhile, the local newspaper the Connacht Sentinel, published the story without mentioning Mrs Geoghegan Quinn, or her son.