Government’s only policy on media diversity is to avoid having a policy

There was a time when, as a journalist, you were almost afraid to say Denis O’Brien’s name out loud given his penchant for taking people to court, writes Alison O’Connor

FIANNA Fáil leader Micheál Martin is not known for a sarcastic sense of humour. But he made a bit of an exception this week.

On Monday morning he tweeted a photo of the front page of the Irish Independent which had the headline: “FF backlash over Martin vow to pass FG budget”. Above this he wrote: “I have to compliment the very special effort made this morning in the Independent. My support for journalistic independence makes page 8”. In social media terms Micheal Martin, a man accused by the Taoiseach of having an old fashioned attitude to the online world, had just delivered a classic “burn”.