David Norris (Independent)

Will the Leader pass on my congratulations to the Government on the firm stance it has taken with regard to the tragic case of the McAreavey and Harte families? I cannot comprehend how appalling it must be to have this pain continually re-opened in the way it has been, particularly the sensationalising of the case in a newspaper in Mauritius. I welcome the strong line the Government has taken. I hope this will encourage it to take a similar line with the media in this country.

By coincidence I today received an interesting e-mail in which a parent is very concerned about material available on a newspaper website which shows a woman being murdered by the Taliban because she was accused of adultery. This is a difficult issue because one must be appalled by what the Taliban did but the questions remains as to whether a seven or eight year old child should have access to this synthetic outrage of the tabloid newspapers. I recall seeing a photograph on the front page of one such newspaper some years ago of a female teenage heroin addict in her coffin. They also recently published photographs of the singer, Whitney Houston, in her coffin. This raises a question. It is commendable but less difficult to raise these questions about a newspaper with a tiny circulation on a small island many thousands of miles away. It takes more determination to raise it directly here, particularly as politicians may not be protected against the depredations of the press. I listened with interest to a good commentator on television saying that this was less acceptable because she was not Irish nor a celebrity. Does this mean that if this unfortunate victim had not been Irish or had been a celebrity it would have been appropriate to show those pictures? I do not think so nor do the vast majority of the Irish people.

I strongly agree with Senator Bacik in supporting the moves of the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, with regard to the problem of alcohol. I am not sure what the statistics are and there may be some dispute about them. However, as one who lives in the north inner city, there is a real problem with people in possession of enormous trays of beer which they get for virtually nothing from supermarkets. This should be banned.