Mags Gargan
A Derry priest has accused certain elements of the media of adding to the pain of the woman who lost five family members when their car slipped off Buncrana pier, Co. Donegal.
Fr Paddy O’Kane, parish priest in the family’s hometown of Ballymagroarty in Derry, has visited Louise James every day since the accident on March 20 when she lost her spouse Sean McGrotty (46); their sons Mark (12) and Evan (8); her mother Ruth Daniels (57) and her little sister Jodie Lee Daniels (14).
Her baby daughter Rioghnach-Ann survived after her father thrust her through the window into the hands of Davitt Walsh, who had swan out to the car.
“While most media people were respectful of the family’s need for privacy, some were not, and added to their pain,” said Fr O’Kane.
Self-regulation
“The media badly needs self-regulation. While so quick to point the finger of blame at others they are often slow to see their own short-comings,” he wrote in an article on the parish website.
At the weekend The Irish Mail on Sunday published an apology in reference to an article quoting Louise James, stating that “we wish to make it clear that she was speaking to our reporter in a purely private capacity and had not consented to being interviewed”.