Editor stays silent over Kevin Myers controversy

THE editor of the Irish edition of The Sunday Times has remained silent despite the ongoing controversy surrounding the newspaper’s sacking of outspoken columnist Kevin Myers.

Frank Fitzgibbon issued a barrage of more than a dozen tweets on various subjects last Saturday in his capacity as editor.

But aside from making a statement in which he apologised and took “full responsibility for this error of judgment”, hours later when the furore over the now-infamous column erupted on Sunday, he has remained silent, both on Twitter and in the public domain.

Neither Mr Fitzgibbon nor other senior editorial executives have responded to requests for a comment on the controversy over what was initially an opinion piece on the gender pay gap in broadcasting here and in the UK.

However, it’s understood that senior officials from News UK, which publishes both the Irish and UK editions of the Sunday Times, have launched an internal inquiry this week into how the column was published.

It comes after more than 50 complaints were made to the Republic’s Office of the Press Ombudsman over the piece, which Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and others have branded “anti-Semitic and misogynistic”.

In the piece Mr Myers referred to the Jewish faith of high-earning BBC presenters Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz, stating that Jews are “not generally known for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest-possible price”.

Mr Myers broke his silence on Wednesday and “unconditionally” apologised to the presenters.