Government to examine role of Rusbridger on Media Commission

Former Labour senator Mairia Cahill has asked the Taoiseach to consider Alan Rusbridger's position on the commission after The Guardian's former media editor, Roy Greenslade, revealed that he had secretly made contributions to the republican newspaper,  An Phoblacht, under the pseudonym George King, and that he supported the IRA.

The Government is "taking seriously" a request to review the role of a former editor of The Guardian newspaper on the Future of Media Commission.

Former Labour senator Mairia Cahill has asked the Taoiseach to consider Alan Rusbridger's position on the commission after The Guardian's former media editor, Roy Greenslade, revealed that he had secretly made contributions to the republican newspaper,  An Phoblacht, under the pseudonym George King, and that he supported the IRA.

Mr Greenslade wrote a 2014 column in The Guardian which said that the BBC, which investigated Ms Cahill’s claims that she was raped by an IRA member, “were too willing to accept Cahill’s story and did not point to countervailing evidence".

After concerns raised by a reader following publication of the article in 2014 that Mr Greenslade had not disclosed his Sinn Féin sympathies, he started to declare his writing during the 1980s for An Phoblacht, including two more blogs relating to Ms Cahill.

The paper's editor Katherine Viner has apologised to Ms Cahill, with a note added to the 2014 piece which reads: “The lack of disclosure was especially unfair to a vulnerable individual, and The Guardian has now apologised to Ms Cahill.”

Ms Cahill told the Irish Examiner that Mr Rusbridger would have been aware of his columnist's sympathies, given that they were first made public in 2008 by Nick Davies, a Guardian journalist, in his book, Flat Earth News.

Everyone knew that Roy Greenslade was writing for An Phoblacht in 2014; that is a matter of public record.

Ms Cahill said that Mr Rusbridger's role in the commission should be reconsidered now and she was satisfied that the Taoiseach Micheál Martin was taking her concerns seriously after the two spoke on Saturday.

"I tend to think that I am a fair person. I asked for a review of his position, not his sacking," Ms Cahill said.

A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said: "The Taoiseach spoke to Mairia Cahill about her concerns in relation to the Future of Media Commission.

"Minister Catherine Martin has responded to Ms Cahill’s letter and will be consulting with her colleagues.

"The Government is taking the matter very seriously."

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, said that Ms Cahill's experience "goes to the heart" of media ethics in Ireland.

“I was contacted by Máiría Cahill on the evening of March 4 in relation to Alan Russbridge’s appointment to the commission and I have written directly to Máiría Cahill in response," Ms Martin said.

I have conveyed to Ms Cahill my abhorrence at the abuse she suffered and the subsequent horrendous ordeal that she had to endure. 

"I have always admired her tenacity and courage in speaking up, not just for herself, but as a means of supporting other abuse victims. 

"Like many abuse victims, her suffering was amplified by criticism and judgement by others," Ms Martin said.

“In the circumstances, I am treating her correspondence with the utmost seriousness.

“It is critically important that society is properly served by a well-functioning media and Máiría Cahill’s experience goes to the heart of ethics in journalism. 

"I intend to reflect carefully on all of the issues raised by Máiría Cahill in consultation with colleagues, taking account also of all subsequent developments.”