Mr John McManus and the Irish Sun

Nov 27, 2013 | Decisions

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a complaint by Mr John McManus that an article published in the Irish Sun on 26 September 2013 breached Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

Mr McManus complained that the newspaper’s account of how he had told its reporter that he had an important interview coming up and that he could not give an interview to the newspaper prior to a planned appearance on the Late Late Show was in breach of Principle 1 because, he said, the conversation had never taken place, and it had been fabricated by the reporter.

The newspaper submitted a recording of a telephone conversation that took place between the reporter in question and Mr McManus, which contained the words spoken by Mr McManus which he said the reporter had fabricated. The complaint was not therefore upheld.