A racist poem circulated by e-mail last month from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) did not originate there, an investigation has found.
However, the work, entitled Immigrants' Poem: At the Expense of the Irish Taxpayer, which referred to immigrants as "trash", was forwarded "to a small group of friends or acquaintances" by eight members of staff employed in the office, the DPP, Mr James Hamilton, conceded yesterday.
"None of the persons involved in forwarding the e-mails is a lawyer," the DPP confirmed, following conclusion of the investigation which was initiated when a journalist from the Sunday Times indicated on November 29th last that he had obtained a copy which appeared to have been sent from the office of the DPP.
"No barrister or solicitor employed in the office was involved," Mr Hamilton added. "All of the staff involved are junior staff who have no role in directing prosecutions."
The investigation, carried out by the Information Technology Unit, found the offensive e-mail - containing a number of references likely to contravene the Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 which prohibits publication of material which might stir up hatred - did not originate in the DPP's office.
The unit found two instances where the same e-mail was received in the office from two different outside sources.
"The e-mail was not composed in the office. The same verse was found on an internet site where it had been posted last June and it appeared to have an English origin," Mr Hamilton said.
Two people in the office received it and one of these "sent it to a number of persons, some of whom in turn passed it on further", he added.
A criminal offence arising from the publication or distribution of written material in contravention of the 1989 Act, distinguished between private expression which, "however offensive, is not a criminal offence under the Act", and public expression, which may be an offence, Mr Hamilton said.
He sought the advice of Mr George Birmingham SC, who agreed that "the facts which were known did not provide grounds to suggest that an offence under Section 3 had been committed".
It was therefore neither necessary nor appropriate for the DPP to involve the Garda Síochána, Mr Hamilton said.
"Nevertheless, the e-mail consisted of a piece of verse directed against immigrants which was of an offensive nature and could well be considered likely to stir up hatred on account of race, colour or ethnic or national origin."
If the e-mails "were deliberately forwarded", this would have meant a breach of office discipline.
All of the staff involved had expressed their deep apology "for the distress which has been caused by the dissemination of this material" and he believed they were all ashamed of their conduct.
The staff involved no longer have access to the internal IT system for the purposes of external e-mail or internet access. They had been warned that any repetition of such behaviour would not receive such lenient treatment, Mr Hamilton said.