Apologies and recriminations

THE widow of Liam Lawlor was last night considering apologies from two senior executives of the newspaper that published the most prominent false account of her husband’s death amid public furore at reports he died in the company of a teenage prostitute.

Sunday Independent editor Aengus Fanning issued a public statement apologising “unreservedly” for the “pain and distress” coverage of the former politician’s death had caused his family.

Mr Fanning’s statement followed an earlier pledge on radio by the paper’s managing editor, Michael Denieffe, that he would begin an immediate internal inquiry into the way the story was handled.