The Front Pages
The main headlines from some of today’s national broadsheets:
“Airline grounds Rhys Meyers over drunken racist rant†– The Irish Examiner.
“Archbishop backs off on ‘strong forces’ claim†– The Irish Independent.
“IRFU calls on Ryan to reverse plan for free-to-air coverage†– The Irish Times.
Cork-born actor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, has made a show of himself yet again. This time the Tudors actor has gone on the lash at 7am in JFK airport, and was then refused a seat on a United Airlines flight for racially insulting an official.
The 32-year-old has been involved in a series of drink-related incidents. The incident began when a bartender at the cafe area refused to serve Meyers booze because he seemed too drunk. The Irish Examiner has the full lowdown on his ‘n’ word insult and subsequent banning from the airline.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has lifted the lid a little more on the powers within the church which kept paedophile sex scandals secret for many years.
The Irish Independent runs the main story which is seen as a “climbdown†from Archbishop Martin in his address to the Knights of St Columbanus. Dr Martin had come under heavy pressure to clarify his stance on the revelation that 200 new cases of sex allegations were made against the Catholic Church last year.
The Irish Rugby Football Union chief Philip Browne will ask Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan to reverse his decision to allow Ireland international rugby matches for free-to-air TV.
The Irish Times reports that Mr Browne feels Irish rugby is losing €10-12 million on the loss of a rights buyer. The IRFU chief will call on Mr Ryan to change his mind at a press conference in Dublin today. Mr Ryan, however, feels that Irish people are entitled to view the top matches regardless of their income or financial situation.
