Ms Geraldine Kennedy:

Frequently, but it would be wrong to suggest that it was only politicians. The Irish Timesis a very important organ of opinion in Ireland which aspires to set the agenda and conducts a national debate. Vested interests would be very annoyed if we wrote things they did not like, but that is normal. Some very strange things did, however, take place at The Irish Timeswhich surprised even me. For example, ambassadors accredited to Ireland get their seal of office from the President of the day and they expect and demand a meeting with the editor of The Irish Timeswithin a week. It is as though they have not really arrived until that happens. On one occasion a judge made contact indirectly to say a photograph was being sent. He complained that his photograph had not been put in the paper. Having received his seal of office three days earlier, he felt no one would know he had been made a judge until The Irish Timessaid so. It is a strange place.