Publisher says author has raised credibility issues
Gill & Macmillan said it only became aware on Monday that Justine Delaney Wilson actually recorded the alleged interview with the minister rather than taking contemporaneous notes.
“On the credibility issue the author has placed herself in a completely unsatisfactory position,” the publisher said in a 600-word statement. However, Gill & Macmillan refused to withdraw the book from sale, saying it was still satisfied about its authenticity — including Ms Delaney Wilson’s widely doubted contention that a minister habitually used cocaine.
In High Society — and the accompanying TV series — the unnamed minister is quoted as saying that he is not the only person in the Oireachtas who does so.
Yesterday’s statement heavily criticises Ms Delaney Wilson, and to some extent disowns her for not being fully honest in her dealings with the publisher.
“If the author had been open and frank with us at all times she would have had nothing to fear. The evidential value of her source material was and remains overwhelmingly convincing. The identities of those interviewed and referred to in the book are known to us and our legal advisors. The material in the book is true and we continue to stand over it,” it said.
However, the company’s claim that it was unaware that Ms Delaney Wilson recorded the interview with the minister seems to contradict comments attributed to a spokeswoman for Gill & Macmillan in The Sunday Times on October 28. She is quoted as saying the publisher and its lawyers had listened to a recording of the interview and have kept two copies of the tape.
There have been reports that there may have been a misunderstanding in this regard, but nobody from Gill & Macmillan was available to confirm this yesterday. Neither was a spokesperson available to say which of the other contentious interviews — including those with an airline pilot and a nun — were recorded in note form rather than on audio.
The statement outlined how the company had satisfied itself that the interviews were real and not staged, and that none of the recordings were made with hidden microphones. It said that its understanding was that some of the interviewees would not agree to be recorded.
“However, the author has now admitted, through her own solicitors, that all subjects were recorded, including the politician. She then formed an A and B list of these recordings, transcribed the A list and represented it to us as being the only version of these interviews.
“The B list was delivered to us in digital audio form. At no time did we have reason to believe that there was any audio version of the A list,” it said.
Ms Delaney Wilson had destroyed her own recordings and transcripts after the book was published, the statement continued.
Meanwhile, RTÉ yesterday would make no further comment about its internal inquiry into the affair under the auspices of Claire Duignan, the director of television programmes.
Justine Delaney Wilson: The High Society
We wish to respond to press speculation surrounding the publication of this book and the verification procedures we undertook to authenticate the material it contains.
The source materials, as presented to us by the author, were the texts of the author’s interviews with her subjects. Most were in digital audio form. A minority were in the form of contemporaneous notes taken by the author in circumstances where she stated the subjects did not consent to be interviewed because of the danger of voice recognition.
Among the interviewees in this latter category was a person described in the book as Robert, a government minister.
As a publication condition the author was required to satisfy the authenticity of the source material. A thorough examination of this material, recorded and transcribed, was conducted by ourselves and our legal advisors. On the basis of the examination, we were satisfied it was a faithful version of the interviews. We were satisfied the interviews were authentic and not staged, and in the case of the audio material, the interviewees were at all times aware of being recorded and there were no hidden microphones.
However, the author has now admitted, through her own solicitors, that all subjects were recorded, including the politician. She formed an A and B list of these recordings, transcribed the A list and represented it to us as being the only version of these interviews. The B list was delivered to us in digital audio form. At no time did we have reason to believe that there was any audio version of the A list. It was agreed, having satisfied ourselves as to the transcript authenticity, the author would retain them, while we retained the audio tapes.
After the book was published, one newspaper made attempts to force the identity of the minister from the author, called the author’s credentials and personal life into question — including an allegation concerning her young child. These attempts grew so intense and personalised that, on the advice of her own solicitor, the author destroyed the recordings and transcripts. She did this without any reference to us or to our lawyers. Had she contacted us, we would have advised her strongly against this and arranged to have the material placed in safekeeping. Instead, we were presented with a fait accompli. It emerges that the previously unknown audio recordings, on which these transcripts were based, were also destroyed.
There are issues of authenticity and of credibility. Ironically, nothing in all this causes us to doubt the veracity of the book as printed. Were we to do so, we would withdraw it from sale without hesitation. But on the credibility issue, the author has placed herself in an unsatisfactory position. Once it became public knowledge there was apparently no recording of the politician, only a transcript, we acknowledged that as being our understanding. We know, as of 19 November (seven weeks following publication) this was not so. The pity of all this is that it was unnecessary. If the author had been open and frank with us at all times, she would have had nothing to fear. The evidential value of her source material was and remains overwhelmingly convincing. The identities of those in the book are known to us and our legal advisors. The material in the book is true and we continue to stand over it.
As far as the recordings retained by us are concerned, we shall under no circumstances release these, as they were taken in strictest confidence.
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