Newspaper industry appoints first Press Ombudsman

The academic and author John Horgan has been appointed by the newspaper industry as Ireland's first Press Ombudsman.

Mr Horgan was a professor of journalism at Dublin City University until his retirement last year and is also a former Labour Party TD.

He will start work in his new role next month, but his office will not be fully operational until November.

The Office of the Press Ombudsman is being established to give people an avenue of complaint if they feel they have been wronged in a newspaper or magazine article.

The Press Council says the Ombudsman will be independent of the newspaper industry, but critics have pointed out that he has no power to impose any fines or punishment for improper press conduct.