On
January 22nd Richard Sullivan wrote a series of
utterly dishonest, scurrilous and libelous articles
in The Sunday World concerning Michael McKevitt.
And while these fallacious articles have been published
in print, I have no intention of demeaning myself
by reiterating their wholly unfounded and disgraceful
contents.
However,
as the republican spokesperson for prisoners on
the E2-landing in Portlaoise Prison, where Michael
McKevitt is detained, I feel compelled to publicly
state that the abovementioned articles are completely
false and totally without foundation.
Prison
management has informed me that Richard Sullivan
did not contact either Portlaoise Prison or the
Irish Prison Service in order to confirm the veracity
of his defamatory claims before publishing his outrageous
articles.
In
my capacity as republican spokesperson I have informed
Portlaoise Prison and the Irish Prison Service that
there is now an onus on them to publicly state the
truth and rebut the allegations of this gutter journalist.
If
Richard Sullivan possessed a shred of professional
integrity he would have contacted the relevant prison
authority to ascertain the truth of his claim prior
to publication.
However,
obviously he chose to submit a slanderous and malicious
fabrication rather than have the article pulled
because of something as inconvenient as the truth.
Did
Richard Sullivan - for one moment - consider the
effects such a disgraceful series of articles might
have upon a prisoner's unsuspecting family? Obviously
not.
Unfortunately
this is what passes for journalistic ethics at The
Sunday World, where paper never refuses ink
and truth never obstructs an opportunity to slander
and defame an Irish republican.
