Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I agree with every word spoken by Senator Finucane. On my way home on Saturday night I called into a shop to get the Sunday newspapers. I thought I had seen everything in newspapers but I did not believe the headline when I saw it. I actually thought it was a magazine sending up the Sunday Independent. I just could not believe it. I looked at it, but did not buy it. I found it nauseating. My first thought was not whether it was true or otherwise, but how the family would be hit by it. My second thought was to wonder where standards of journalism had gone and my third was to do with the libel laws. The central character is dead and the other person is not a resident, so neither of them has any comeback. We need to look at this issue and give some teeth in this area.

There is only one way to deal with this matter and that is through punitive measures. There is no way any action will be taken by proprietors against newspapers making money, as long as they continue making money. The way to deal with this is the same as with the licensing laws. A publication found in contravention of the regulations should be closed down for a period or certain number of publications. It should be made feel the pain. This is the only threat that will work.

I agree with the point made by many, including the Taoiseach, that trying to find the lowest common denominator of standards in order to sell newspapers is a race to the bottom. I have seen other examples of this. Recently, I saw a photograph of my brother-in-law on the front page of a newspaper giving the fingers to his community. He swears he was never in such a pose but that the photograph was doctored. This goes on all the time and the only recourse people have is to take a case, which is expensive, time-consuming, takes place long after the event and allows every aspect of people's private lives to be raked over the coals for the entertainment of the nation. It is undemocratic and wrong that people's characters can be taken away in this manner. Senator Norris has said this many times and is proven right again on this issue.