David Norris (Independent)

Last week I mentioned that I was of the view that people in this country were beginning to rend and savage each other in a very unattractive way. In that context, I referred to the attention being given to the issue of travelling spouses. What I said was repeated on a radio programme and there was some support for my views. One of the correspondents asked how I knew what the public felt. I know because I have had nothing but congratulations from ordinary members of the public in Dublin and elsewhere in the country. I was down the country at the weekend. I received one telephone call from a very pleasant woman, a retired civil servant. She said she was feeling the pinch and that her medical card had been removed. She also said the only pleasure she had was in seeing others taken down a bit.

That leads to my second point. We need to have a balanced debate on the media. I refer to a very interesting article in The Irish Times on foot of another issue I raised — the treatment of the Lillis murder trial. It is stated in the article that the Constitution dictates that justice must be done in public, as is the case. It also states the unappealing aspect is that it facilitates the unappealing human instinct to wallow in the sins and misery of others. However, limits could be set because justice is administered in public in a courtroom, not on the street. I think people have a right to have their privacy protected. There is a very weak argument in favour of journalists being allowed to take photographs wherever they please of witnesses who are innocent people and not up on a charge; it states custom and practice dictate that photographs will be taken of most witnesses. The reference to custom and practice amounts to a very weak argument to be set against the constitutional rights of the citizen and respect for his or her good name and privacy. I suggest the privacy of innocent people and witnesses, in particular, should continue to be protected. I have no problem with the Garda giving mugshots of convicted criminals to the press — that is fine — but it is a very bad day when the press are attacking the Garda. I strongly support what the Garda did and will continue to support the force. I call on the people to stand up and stop this rending of each other and this disgraceful invasion of a person's right to a private life.