Reports a shot at our open wound, says Lawlor’s son
In the first public interview by a Lawlor family member since the weekend, Niall Lawlor expressed his shock at the lurid headlines about the death of the controversial politician.
“A dead man has no recourse and scandal sells newspapers,” said Mr Lawlor, who had travelled to Moscow from his New York home to arrange the return of his father’s body.
In an interview on RTÉ’s Today with Pat Kenny, Mr Lawlor fought back tears to describe how he had seen the headlines in Dublin Airport last Sunday morning.
Several publications had wrongfully stated a female companion in Mr Lawlor’s car was a teenage prostitute.
The woman was identified as a 32-year-old Czech woman, Julia Kushnir, a translator and legal secretary who assisted Mr Lawlor on his business trips to Prague.
Mr Lawlor criticised the fact that newspapers had published such reports without verifying the facts.
He pointed out the fatal accident had occurred less than an hour after his father arrived at Moscow Airport on a flight from Prague.
Speaking from Moscow, he said the reports caused “unbelievable shock” to his mother, Hazel, and his brothers and sister.
Mr Lawlor revealed he had last spoken to his father on Friday evening.
“Niall, you’ve no idea how much I love you” were the last words his father said to him.
Mr Lawlor said he was woken several hours later to be informed his father had been killed in a car crash.
He described his father as “a hard man, as well all know, who lived life at 100 miles per hour”.
The former TD’s eldest son expressed gratitude to the Irish ambassador to Russia, Justin Harman, and his staff for his assistance “in getting Dad home” and all those who had expressed condolences to his family.
A spokesperson for the family in Lucan said funeral arrangements were still being finalised, although Mr Lawlor’s body was due to arrive back to Dublin Airport last night.
The spokesperson declined to comment on whether the family had received personal visits from Independent media group representatives to apologise for the news reports.
A friend of Ms Kushnir in Prague said the mother-of- two was still “quite traumatised” by the accident.
“Julia is quite amazed she is alive. She is also very upset and embarrassed by the bad press surrounding Mr Lawlor’s death,” he added.
Ms Kushnir is expected to release a statement about the media reports through an Irish solicitor later today.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Michael McDowell has promised that legislation setting up an independent press council will prevent “a race to the bottom” among newspapers.
Mr McDowell said yesterday the draft legislation should provide remedies to families like those of the late Mr Lawlor’s companion as “grossly offensive, cruel and utterly lacking in any foundation of fact”.
Mr McDowell hoped such papers would carry full apologies in their next editions, giving them similar size and prominence as the inaccurate reports.
However, he also noted that apologies could “never undo the trauma” of original, inaccurate stories.
