Columnist disputes Ireland's press freedom ranking

Liam Fay makes an excellent point in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times by noting that Ireland's global ranking, by Reporters sans Frontières , as second only to Finland as the bastion of press freedom is misguided. How can that be, he asks, when Geraldine Kennedy, editor of the Irish Times and her reporter, Colm Keena, are facing criminal sanctions for revealing that secret payments were made to a former finance minister (who is now the prime minister)? Ireland also has "punitive libel laws" and is planning to introduce "restrictive" privacy laws. (Via Sunday Times)