SARAH CAREY, the current affairs commentator and broadcaster, has tendered her resignation as a columnist with The Irish Times.
The editor Geraldine Kennedy confirmed yesterday that Ms Carey’s resignation had been accepted. Ms Carey offered her resignation following this week’s publication of the second and final report of the Moriarty tribunal. The resignation takes effect immediately.
In a statement issued yesterday evening, Ms Carey said that following a meeting with the editor, "it was clear to me that I had no choice but to resign my position as columnist with The Irish Times".
Explaining the background to her resignation, Ms Carey said that in January 2003 she had provided Stephen Collins, then political editor of the Sunday Tribune, "with data about donations made by Denis O'Brien to all political parties . . .
“When queried by the Moriarty tribunal on this, in order to protect the confidentiality of my dealings with Stephen Collins, I told my legal team I had not been the source of the leak.”
Ms Carey said it was “important to reiterate that I did not [her emphasis] lie under oath to the tribunal. Indeed, when I came to give evidence under oath at the tribunal, I told the whole truth about the leak and denial.
"All of this was known to The Irish Times – indeed had been reported in that paper by Colm Keena on Thursday, January 22nd, 2004, four years before they hired me as a columnist."
Ms Carey said she would be taking a break from presenting on TV3 but she would continue to present her radio show on Newstalk.
Ms Kennedy told Ms Carey yesterday that her credibility as a columnist had been damaged by the findings of the report of the Moriarty tribunal and its aftermath. In order to protect the reputation of The Irish Times,her position as a columnist was untenable.