Strange that our low-profile Minister for the Arts, Sile de Valera, should choose to join the British actor John Hurt on Thursday to launch the Ireland edition of the Culture section of the Sunday Times. The Wapping papers have already affected hundreds of Irish newspaper jobs and could do so again. Indeed their aggressive presence in this country hastened the demise of the Irish Press group, founded by Sile's grandfather, and although the company now has an office in Ireland, the vast bulk of the Sunday Times sold here is printed in England.
In addition, since when has the Sunday Times been a friend to Ireland? Not since Rupert Murdoch bought it.