Madam, - I agree completely with Damien Tiernan's (May 1st) assessment of - and indeed shame about - the appalling media coverage of the tragedy in Clonroche, Co Wexford. It marks a new low in Irish journalism, not only because of the entirely false stories published but the appalling insensitivity shown to the families of the victims.
The fact that made-up stories were carried after a representative of both families pleaded to the media for care and respect for their grief shows the depth to which the tabloids in this country have sunk in the circulation war.
Murder-suicide, particularly when children are victims, is one of the most tragic deaths for survivors and family to deal with. The grieving process is intensified by the dual impact of the most horrific traumas to be faced in life. The pain must be unimaginable. To have it increased by stories of what supposedly happened on the night and screaming headlines branding Diarmuid Flood as "an evil dad" is simply barbaric.
Unfortunately this is nothing new in Irish tabloids which in the past decade have eagerly embraced the gutter standards set by their British masters.
In this sphere, facts are of no consequence. It is the "story" that counts.
As for the victims of falsehoods, they simply don't count, even if they have lost four of their loved ones, including two children, in the most devastating of circumstances. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL SHERIDAN, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14.