The Philip Monahan series commemorates Ireland’s first local authority manager who served in Cork city as Commissioner and Manager from 1924-1959.
In a wide-ranging speech on October 28th 2010 titled: “Politics and media: the genie has escaped from the bottle”, Charlie Bird spoke of the ever-increasing speed of the news cycle and warned of falling journalistic standards. He spoke passionately about the dangers of crossing the line between chasing a story in the interests of the common good and invading people’s private and family lives.
Mr Bird asserted that journalists should always be honest and truthful in their broadcasting and he claimed that showing ‘good common sense’ was the most vital skill of a journalist. Bird praised the work of the tribunals in Ireland in ‘peeling away layers of corruption’ and he contended that Philip Monahan would turn in his grave at the revelations about planning corruption in Dublin. In concluding his lecture, Charlie Bird presented a passionate defence of public service broadcasting which he said should be enhanced into the future.
As part of the lecture, Councillor Catherine Clancy, Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork, presented the annual Department of Government Student Awards to John Kenny (Student of Year), Neepa Sodhi (Graduate of Year) and Declan Keating (Essay Competition Winner). The event was attended by a crowd of over 200 people in UCC’s Aula Maxima.
Picture L-R: Dr Aodh Quinlivan, Charlie Bird, Dr Michael Murphy, President, UCC
