Sir, - On reading Kathy Sheridan's article headed "Life on the street has never been dull for Deirdre of the sorrows" (The Irish Times, April 4th), I was struck by a sense of deja vu. However, it was not an illusion, but simply the fact that I had read some of the article already. In four specific instances, the Irish Times article plagiarises one by Nancy Banks-Smith in the Guardian ("It was the shirts what dunnit", G2 section, March 30th).
As briefly as possible, the four instances are:
"The jury had enough to be confused about surely, without taking her brief for a crook." (The Irish Times)
"If your brief looks like a crook, it only confuses the jury." (Guardian)
"Deirdre married Ken Barlow the same week Lady Diana married Prince Charles. Guess who got the bigger audience, Purple Shirt? Twenty-nine million bug-eyed viewers stayed in to see if she was going to dump Ken for Mike Baldwin (who used to be married to Ken's daughter, by the way). Manchester United flashed her decision on the noticeboard at half-time: DEIRDRE STAYS WITH KEN." (The Irish Times)
"Deirdre married Ken Barlow the same week Lady Diana married Prince Charles. Deirdre got the bigger audience. Twenty-nine million people stayed at home to see if she was going to leave Ken for Mike Baldwin. Manchester United flashed her decision on their noticeboard at half-time: DEIRDRE STAYS WITH KEN." (Guardian)
"Her solicitor was hard put to find even one friend of hers nondescript enough to serve as a character witness." (The Irish Times)
"Deirdre's solicitor had some difficulty finding any of her friends nondescript enough to serve as a character witness." (Guardian)
"Mike, a knickers king, embezzled company money to pay her legal fees. Ken, the male escort, made the front of the Weatherfield Gazette when a client expired in the loo. Her last husband was a Moroccan half her age, who met a mysterious end, whose kidney lives on in the cretinous Tracey, who was fathered by Deirdre's first husband, Ray. Who is gay, by the way. (Nondescript? Where has Purple Shirt been living?)" (The Irish Times)
"Mike, now a knicker king, is paying for her defence. Ken, who is working as a male escort, is on the front page of the Weatherfield Gazette because his client, a Mrs Featherstonehaugh, expired on the job . . . Deirdre's last husband was Moroccan and murdered in murky circumstances. His kidney lives on in tiresome Tracey, the daughter of Deirdre and her first husband, Ray. Who is gay, by the way. Nondescript, my fine-feathered friend? Ha!" (Guardian)
While I accept that there are occasional alterations in phrasing and ordering, I believe it is incontestable that the bulk of these quotes are taken directly from the earlier article. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines "plagiarise" as to "take and use another person's (thoughts, writings, inventions, etc.) as one's own". I looked in vain for any recognition that these thoughts and writings were anything other than Ms Sheridan's own.
Unfortunately, plagiarism is something with which I believe all academics are becoming increasingly familiar in their student's work. So, while it might be argued that these were merely two features on the predicament of a soap opera character, and do not warrant such attention, I strongly believe that the core principle remains the same: that plagiarism is lazy, wrong, and quite simply poor journalism. I expected more from The Irish Times. - Yours, etc.,
Stephen Ryan,
Lecturer in Communications, Dublin Institute of Technology, Aungier Street, Dublin 2.
Kathy Sheridan writes: Mr Ryan's views on plagiarism are incontestable. My article as written did credit the Guardian (as well as the Sun and Daily Express) for some valuable insights, but this reference was removed in the editing process.