Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is a disrespect to the historical St. Brigid whereby myths and legends that would compete with and contradict her holiness and spirituality are propounded. We should focus very much on the historical St. Brigid.

At some point, I would like a debate on media coverage of migration issues. I wonder whether such coverage is making the tense situation in parts of our country better or worse. There are many unanswered questions, no matter how one looks at it, about the terrifying report in The Irish Timesat the weekend alleging an attack involving a German Shepherd dog and people wearing balaclavas. It appears that while the newspaper reported that the journalist Kitty Holland had witnessed the attack, that was not the case. At this point, there is no footage available to substantiate the claim, either of what happened or the aftermath. There are no reported or identified attackers or victims. There is a claim by the newspaper that it is worried about defamation. Perhaps the Garda is looking into the matter. We have a right to expect high standards from our media regardless of who worried we are about racist attitudes. Many people have not been to the Bunny Carr school of communication, but it does not make them racist if they have concerns that they express badly. Whether it was inadvertence, a lapse in standards, ideology or a case of overegging or exaggerating a story, this needs to be looked at. Social media abuse of the journalist in question is absolutely abhorrent. However, there is another side to this. I hope The Irish Timeswill look into what happened and come out with an explanation in due course. There are questions about the report that we need to ask.