Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

One of the founding fathers of the American Republic also said that if he had to choose between a society with a free government and an unfree press or one with an unfree government and a free press, he would choose the latter. I have always been of the opinion that while the latter statement sounds courageous and attitudinal, it is fundamentally flawed. The truth is that it is not possible to have a society with a free government and an unfree press. The converse also applies, namely, that there cannot be a free press in a society which is unfree. The choice the individual in question posed and made was a false choice.

I thank Members for their attention and I look forward to an interesting debate on this issue.