asked the Minister for External Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to an article purporting to have been written by a Reuter's correspondent in Dublin which appeared in a Tasmanian newspaper stating, inter alia: (a) that the question of Partition is rarely mentioned to-day except by members of the Irish Government; (b) that even in the Six Counties the Nationalists do not really want a united Ireland; (c) that a member of the Irish Electricity Board stated that the Irishman keeps his pig in his parlour just to prove that he has a parlour; (d) that Southern Ireland's butter lies in the refrigerator stores of Dublin instead of in the warehouses of England, and (e) that Southern Ireland cattle and sheep eat down the grasslands long after they have reached maturity because there is no market to which they can be sent; and, if so, whether the Minister proposes to take any steps to combat such distorted and misleading reports.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Tasmanian Newspaper Report.
My attention has been drawn to this report, and I agree with the Deputy that it is distorted and misleading. As regards the steps which I am taking to combat such reports, I have, in this particular instance, asked the Ambassador in Canberra to issue a correction. Correction of misleading reports is not, however, adequate in itself, for many more people will read the original report than will see the correction. The most effective step to combat such distortion is by making available objective and brightly-written reports on Ireland. This is the function which the Irish News Agency is intended to discharge.
Can the Minister state whether in his view irresponsible material of this nature was supplied by an Irish journalist?
I cannot conceive that any responsible Irish journalist would write material of this kind. I should like to add that I know at least the leading correspondent of Reuter's News Agency in Dublin is an extremely responsible and competent journalist and I am quite certain that he would not take part in such misrepresentation.