'Dollop of hypocrisy' on Desmond, says Rabbitte

The Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has accused the part owner of the Irish Daily Star Richard Desmond of hypocrisy after he threatened to close down the paper for publishing topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Richard Desmond's company Northern and Shell part-owns the Irish tabloid along with Independent News and Media.

He said on Saturday that he will take "immediate steps" to close the paper which employs around 80 people directly.

But Minister Rabbitte says this is a complete over-reaction: “I don’t think it was in especially good taste by the Irish Star but I think there’s a big dollop of hypocrisy on the part of the part-owner of the paper, who hasn’t been behind the door of exploiting images of women when it has suited him in the past.

“It’s a totally disproportionate response.”

The newspaper ran as normal this morning.