FF Senator complains to Sipo over Web Summit’s €1m funding of The Ditch

Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne has complained to the political standards watchdog about €1 million in funding for the Ditch website by Web Summit, the company led by businessman Paddy Cosgrave.

Mr Byrne has written to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo), which oversees compliance with the Electoral Act, alleging that the website is a “political platform that comes within the definition of a ‘third party’ under the Electoral Acts”.

In his complaint, Mr Byrne argues that funding of The Ditch by Web Summit, or Mr Cosgrave, is “far in excess of those permitted under the Acts”. He is basing his complaint on comments Mr Cosgrave made during an interview on RTÉ at the weekend, which Mr Byrne claims indicates that “the purpose of Web Summit’s donation to The Ditch is a political one”.

According to Sipo, an individual or organisation who accepts donations of more than €100 for political purposes is classed as a third party and has a range of obligations. Key to any outcome will be whether Sipo agrees with Mr Byrne’s interpretations.

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In a statement to The Irish Times, The Ditch said it had been a member of the Press Council since January and Mr Byrne should go to the Press Council if he thought it welcomed political organisations as members. The statement said Mr Byrne should reflect on whether “cynical complaint” would “be in any way effective at silencing journalism he and his party consider damaging [it won’t]”. The website said Mr Byrne was “allowing himself to be used as a conduit for Micheál Martin and the Fianna Fáil leader’s illiberal attacks on independent media”.

The funding and editorial approach of The Ditch, which has published stories leading to two ministers of State stepping down, were criticised last month by Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who said the website is not “an independent media platform at all” and arguing that it was conducting a “political campaign” and said that it presents stories in a “selective and distorted way”.

[ The Ditch: Who is behind the website Micheál Martin says is ‘attacking Government’? ]

The Ditch has disputed this and said on Monday it is a “left news organisation for which holding power to account is a genuine aspiration” and that its work on property and land holdings across parties and State bodies reflects this.

In a statement, Mr Cosgrave accused Fianna Fáil of a “Trump-style attack on freedom of the press [which] should concern all journalists and voters”.

“Malcolm Byrne should be complaining about the actions and inactions of his fellow Fianna Fáil politicians, not trying to distract from it all with baseless and frankly idiotic complaints.” He described the complaint as an “attempt to silence investigative journalism”. He said media organisations, including The Irish Times and the Guardian, have principles that are “overtly political in nature” and asked whether Mr Byrne would be reporting The Irish Times to Sipo.

Corporate donors must register with Sipo if they intend to make political donations over €200, and the same limits apply to donations to third parties as to political parties or sub-units of political parties.

Sipo says “political purposes” can include seeking to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, promoting a third party’s views and interests, or campaigning to influence government policy or functions.

The Ditch has published a series of stories on the disposal by Limerick County Council of a parcel of land to the wife of Minister of State Niall Collins in 2008. On Monday, the local authority told The Irish Times that no agreement is in place with Ms Collins’s wife, Dr Eimear O’Connor, to purchase five homes permitted on the site “at this time”. Dr O’Connor had approached the council with a proposal to sell the homes to it for social housing.

Mr Collins was part of a meeting of the Bruff Electoral Area committee which discussed the potential sale and knew his wife was interested in the site.

He has since said he should have recused himself from the meeting, but has said he breached no law and argued that while he and six other councillors agreed with the recommendation of a senior engineer that it be sold, no vote was taken at the committee meeting.