Mr. David McWilliams:

I can only answer in the context of myself. Never once was anything I ever said muzzled by any editor. I have written for The Sunday Business Postall the way through. It is the newspaper of the economic, financial and political class. I went through three editors at that newspaper. Nobody ever telephoned me or censored my articles. I have also worked for the Irish Independentfor many years. It is the largest newspaper in the country and, again, never once has anything I ever said been spiked or questioned by an editor. I am bit of a gypsy because I have worked for TV3, RTE and Newstalk, the main television and radio stations. Never once has anything I have written or suggested been interfered with.

It is not that there was a corporate line for people like me. Maybe I was like an exotic creature in the zoo in that they always have to have one of us. What is quite funny is the number of people who wrote about the boom saying it would all be grand and it was fantastic but are now saying they all saw it coming. I have never been muzzled or interfered with by anyone.