Press apologies fail to assuage Lawlor family's anger

A son of the former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor today said the apologies printed in some Sunday newspapers did not replace the gut-wrenching aspects of last week’s inaccurate reports of the death.

The controversial 61-year-old former TD was killed last weekend when the Mercedes car he was being driven in crashed into a concrete lamppost on a motorway outside Moscow.

Mr Lawlor’s family accused the media of being reckless in its coverage of his death. A number of Sunday newspapers claimed that a woman, later confirmed as Mr Lawlor’s interpreter, may have been a teenage prostitute and that the collision occurred in a red light area.

On today’s front-page apologies in some Sunday newspapers, Niall Lawlor said: “In some ways you have to take it at face value, but it doesn’t in anyway, shall we say replace what could have been a much more dignified approach.”

He added: “It still doesn’t really replace the gut-wrenching aspects of what they seem to have so maliciously loved to put out.”

Mr Lawlor said the fact the former TD had been killed in a car crash in Moscow on Saturday, October 22 was a big enough story in itself.

“A line was drawn in the sand, that forever more if the name Liam Lawlor is punched into the internet this whole form of salacious material will be there for anybody to see,” he told RTE Radio’s ’This Week’ programme.

Mr Lawlor said the interpreter Juliya Kushnir, 29, who survived the accident, was devastated afterwards.

“The poor woman was so distraught it was a very, very difficult time, her intention really was just to get back to her son,” he said.

Mr Lawlor said it was gratifying for the family and his mother, Hazel, to witness the large number of people from across the world of politics and business who turned out to support the family at the funeral on Thursday.