3 September 1998 Edition
Editor's desk
It will come as no surprise to readers of this paper to be told that the behaviour of some journalists over the past weeks has been an absolute disgrace. I'm referring to those who have named alleged members of the self-styled ``Real'' IRA on no evidence except the word of Special Branch contacts. Some of those named have - as is clear to anyone within the republican family - absolutely no connection with the group. As for others, it's impossible to know their connections.
Not only is it a disgrace, it is also highly dangerous.
Other people have been all but named in different publications. One was a woman who works part-time with An Phoblacht in Dublin. She was described by reporter Paul Williams in the Sunday World as a secretary/lieutenant to the ``Real'' IRA's ``top bomb maker''. Williams wrote, among other details, that she was a Co Mayo woman with two children who lives in the Clondalkin area of Dublin.
The article was enough for the woman's friends and neighbours to recognise her. She has since feared for the safety of herself and her family because of the possibility that it becomes known that the article referred to her. The report was entirely without foundation and Paul Williams should do his best to undo the damage he has done. An immediate apology would be a help.
With all this misinformation it's more than interesting to note that the new laws currently going through the two parliaments in Dublin and London would allow the same Special Branch sources to jail people for membership of a proscribed organisation largely on the basis of their (Special Branch) say-so. Some law, some justice.
Not only is it a disgrace, it is also highly dangerous.
Other people have been all but named in different publications. One was a woman who works part-time with An Phoblacht in Dublin. She was described by reporter Paul Williams in the Sunday World as a secretary/lieutenant to the ``Real'' IRA's ``top bomb maker''. Williams wrote, among other details, that she was a Co Mayo woman with two children who lives in the Clondalkin area of Dublin.
The article was enough for the woman's friends and neighbours to recognise her. She has since feared for the safety of herself and her family because of the possibility that it becomes known that the article referred to her. The report was entirely without foundation and Paul Williams should do his best to undo the damage he has done. An immediate apology would be a help.
With all this misinformation it's more than interesting to note that the new laws currently going through the two parliaments in Dublin and London would allow the same Special Branch sources to jail people for membership of a proscribed organisation largely on the basis of their (Special Branch) say-so. Some law, some justice.