Justice Minister apologises to RTÉ journalist

RTÉ journalist Paul Reynolds has received an apology from the Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

It regards comments Minister Shatter made about the crime correspondent at a meeting of town councillors in Templemore in Co Tipperary, in which he said the RTÉ crime correspondent "frequently gets it very wrong".

In a statement released last night, Justice Minister Alan Shatter acknowledged that he responded inappropriately to comments made by Paul Reynolds about the barrister Oliver Connolly in the one o'clock news on Thursday.

Minister Shatter deemed the comments unfair and speaking in Templemore on Thursday evening he said that the journalist "consistently engages in tabloid sensationalism of the worst kind and frequently gets it very wrong".

According to the Justice Minister's statement last night, Paul Reynolds has since apologised to Mr Connolly for his comments.

The Fine Gael Dublin South deputy last night said that he regrets the remarks he made about Mr Reynolds and admits that they were unfair and inaccurate.

Alan Shatter has also expressed his hope that they can both now move on from the controversy.