Row over Irish privacy laws after Duchess of Cambridge topless photographs row

Published on 19/09/2012 01:22

IRELAND’s justice minister has been criticised for making an “opportunistic” call to introduce privacy laws on the back of the publication of topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge by an Irish tabloid.

The editor of the Irish Daily Star, Michael O’Kane, has been suspended from his post pending an internal investigation.

Justice minister Alan Shatter said sections of the print media were “unable or unwilling to distinguish between prurient interest and the public interest”. and said he would revisit a previously abandoned privacy bill.

However, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin claimed this was a cynical move on the part of Mr Shatter.