The London-based Irish Post newspaper is to apologise to President Michael D Higgins for its coverage of his visit to London last month, which has provoked widespread and continuing anger amongst Irish community organisations in Britain.
Publisher, Elgin Loane told The Irish Times he "had concerns" about the coverage, which sharply criticised Mr Higgins for being silent on major issues of concern to the Irish living in Britain.
“We have the utmost respect for the President and he is a man of great dignity. We should not be in a position where our editorial is taking a different view,“ said Mr Loane, who bought the newspaper last September.
Editor, Murray Morse, who was appointed just days before Mr Higgins' visit began, said: "It certainly wasn't the intention of the paper, or me to offend the president, or to do anything that would undermine his position. If that is indeed what has happened, and it appears to be the case, then I am sorry for that," he told The Irish Times.
Mr Morse, an experienced journalist with decades of service with the Daily Record, the Cambridge Evening News, the Sun and other titles, including the Belfast Telegraph said: "I will issue a full apology (in Wednesday's edition) and write a letter of apology to that effect."
The Irish Post had been annoyed because it had tried for several months to secure an exclusive interview with Mr Higgins after his inauguration and believed that it would have an opportunity to interview him separately during his London visit - a version rejected by official Irish sources.
The fact that such a meeting did not take place was "a missed opportunity", both for the newspaper and for the President, Mr Morse went on, saying that it had wanted to speak at length with him on major issues of concern.
Repeating that the newspaper had not intended to offend, Mr Morse said: “What we were drawing attention to was a sense of frustration that important questions that we had wanted answers to for four months had not been answered.”
Meanwhile, a series of community organisations signed a letter of protest condemning the Post before the apology was issued. In it, they accused the paper of
"a disgraceful attack" upon Mr Higgins, saying that the Irish community in Britain had been "deeply offended".
"Your claim to be the Voice of the Irish in Britain has some historic legitimacy. However the Irish Post has no previous history of very low grade tabloid journalism such as this, which has undermined this legitimacy," said the group.
"We as a community would not wish to see the Irish Post denigrated in the future by becoming a sensationalist tabloid newspaper. We believe the Irish community would reject such a change in our community newspaper," they went on.
The coming days will see if the apology stems the tide of criticism that has been directed at the newspaper. In a letter to the paper, the chief executive of the Federation of Irish Societies, Ms Jennie McShannon said the tone of the editorial had been ‘petulant, its approach tacky, and its style reflecting the worst of the tabloid media’.
Representing 120 organisations affiliated to FIS, Ms McShannon said she had been "dismayed" by the coverage, particularly since so many in the Irish community in Britain had worked hard last year to rescue the Post.
President Higgins, she said, has been "an unwavering advocate for the rights of the Irish Diaspora" and a regular visitor to Irish centres in Britain long before he ran for Aras an Uachtarain.
“With this in mind that I was shocked by the aggressive editorial character assassination through the pages of last week’s edition. I read nothing of the lengthy visit to the London Irish Centre where he met individuals from Glasgow to Portsmouth; their common purpose to support, enable and engage with the most vulnerable in our community; to promote our great and diverse cultural heritage and reflect the spirit of the new relationship between the people of Britain and Ireland.”
Nor, she said, had she read anything of the support offered by Mr Higgins for the Emigrant Support Programme and its impact on the lives of the Irish in Britain: “I read instead an aggressive and scurrilous attack, unnecessarily uncouth and disrespectful and which in no way reflected the experience of so many who met him.
“The questions to which he apparently said "nothing" were inappropriate and demonstrated only a shameful lack of understanding of the constitutional role of Head of State. When we cannot get through to the Department of Health, we do not expect the Queen to intervene on our behalf.
“I thought the tone of the editorial petulant, its approach tacky, and its style reflecting the worst of the tabloid media,” she said, adding that FIS had fought last year for the Post’s survival to ensure ‘diversity and for breadth of perspective.
“We fought to retain an Irish media sector to capture range, but not to misuse our community, and misrepresent our experience. It is this that galls the most. That you should claim outrage on behalf of the community is indefensible and should be wholly retracted,” she said.
Meanwhile, dozens of leaders in Irish community organisations have also written to the Post to "express shock and disappointment" at the coverage: “We are in particular appalled at the grotesque cartoon of the President which you have printed which we regard as abusive, insulting and hurtful to him as a human being.
“You have degraded the office of the President of Ireland. We in the Irish community in Britain find it very hurtful and rude to treat in this way the President of our country. Just one week ago, as a community we made him very welcome and we are insulted by this disgraceful assault.”
Demanding an unreserved apology, the group said President Higgins had spoken at length on his desire to engage with emigrant Irish and they pointed to his appointment of Hackney Labour councillor, Sally Mulready to the Council of State.
All of this, they said, "is testament to the fact that he intends to do all within the powers and limits of his constitutional role to be an influence for good".
"We as a community would not wish to see the Irish Post denigrated in the future by becoming a sensationalist tabloid newspaper. We believe the Irish community would reject such a change in our community newspaper. Should the Irish Post decide to take this route, it would cease to be the paper for the Irish in Britain,” they said.
The signatories to the letter are: Phyllis Morgan, Head of Service, Irish Women’s Support Network UK; Frank Horan, Chair, and Noelette Hanley, Chief Officer, Luton Irish Forum; John McCarthy, Tuesday Irish Older Persons Club, Liverpool; David Barlow, Chief Executive, London Irish Centre; Michael Ford, Chair, World Irish Heritage Centre Manchester; Jim O’Hara, Chair, and Seamus McGarry, Vice-Chair, Hammersmith Irish Cultural Centre London; Peter Timmons, Chair, Halifax and District Irish Association; Gerry Mulomby, Director, Treskellion Irish Theatre Group, Nottingham; Aine Bohan, Secretary, Council of Irish Counties, Manchester; Frank Sheridan, Chair, Corby Irish Centre; Michael Nichol, Chair, Bournemouth and District Irish Society, Dorset; Lorraine Cooper, Secretary, Doncaster Irish Association; John Nolan, Chair, Celtic and Irish Culture Society, Crawley Irish Festival, Crawley; Margaret Byrne, Chair, Tara Irish Pensioners Club, London; Danny Maher, Cricklewood Homeless Concern, London; Eugene Dugan, Director, Irish Chaplaincy of Britain, London; Liam Redmond, Chair, Watford and District Irish Society; John Butler, Chair and Andy Higgins, Treasurer, Treasurer, Irish Pensioners Choir London; Martin Garvey, Chair, Emerald Irish Club, Wolverhampton; St Michaels Irish Centre, Liverpool; Haslingdon Irish Democratic League; Dewsberry Irish Democratic League; Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas; Alice Kennedy, Chair, Irish Elderly Advice Network; Patrick Halloran, Chair, Bradford Irish Society; Mick Flaherty, Chair, Bradford Irish Club; Tony Brennan, Director, Haringey Irish centre; Stan Smyth, Chair, Lewisham Irish Pensioners; Colm Moloney, Chair, Brent Irish Advisory; Irish Community Care Manchester; Bolton Irish Centre; Portsmouth Irish Society; Irish in Birmingham Association; Tyneside Irish Club; Oxford Irish Society; Batley Irish Democratic League; Irish in Birmingham; Milton Keynes Irish Centre, Bedfordshire; Jackie Duffy Leicester Irish Form; Irish Arts Foundation Leeds and the Irish Heritage Group, Manchester.
