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The Office of the Press Ombudsman in Dublin is to open its doors for the first time today.

According to presscouncil.ie, the website of the ombudsman and the Press Council of Ireland, complaints will be accepted for articles published in newspapers or magazines after today.

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The first Press Ombudsman was
appointed yesterday and should be able to take complaints about the print media
in Ireland from November.

Members of the public with still be asked to contact newspapers or
magazines first. If unsatisfied, the next step will be to contact the Office of the Press
Ombudsman, only major complaints or complaints unsatisfied at ombudsmen
level will be passed on to the Press Council of Ireland.

The ombudsman will have no powers to fine newspapers only to make them publish
his decision.

The new ombudsman, Dr John Horgan, called for the Defamation Bill to be
reintroduced as soon as possible. Horgan was
professor of journalism at Dublin City University before resigning last
year. He is also a former Labour TD, Senator, and a MEP.

He had previously worked at the Evening Press, the Catholic Herald in London,
and for the Irish Times where he reported on religion and education. Horgan also
was Editor of the Education Times, and has freelanced for the New York Review
of Books, the London Review of Books, the Guardian, and Le Monde diplomatique
among others.

"This means that Ireland finally has a complaints mechanism that
is free, easy to use, totally independent and available to every
citizen," said Prof Mitchell was quoted in today’s Irish Times. "Anyone who feels aggrieved by a
newspaper article or photograph can avail of this mechanism without
having to risk spending a fortune by going to court".

The
members of the Press Council of Ireland have been revealed today, the group will work with the Office of Press Ombudsman to act as an independent regulatory for the print media in Ireland.

A statement today said that the two bodies hope to be fully operational by the autumn. Code of practice to govern newspapers and magazines in Ireland is also to be introduced.

The Press Council is made of 13 members in total, it’s chairman, Professor Thomas Mitchell, six ‘independent members’ picked using public recruitment, and media nominated members.

“I believe the establishment of a Press Council of Ireland is a
significant event in the history of the Irish media, and a very good
news story for the Irish public and the press industry in this country" said Mitchell.

“We will soon have a complaints procedure that is independent, accessible to all, simple, quick and free”.

In addition to Mitchell the independent members are Seamus Boland, CEO of Irish Rural Link; Mary Kotsonouris, a qualified solicitor and former District Court Judge; John Horgan, former chairman of the Labour Court; Maeve McDonagh, associate Professor of Law in UCC; Dr Eleanor O’Higgins, senior lecturer in the UCD School of Business; and Peter O’Mahony, former CEO of the Irish Refugee Council.

While the industry members are Rosemary Delaney, managing editor of multi-media firm WMB Publishing Ltd; Michael Denieffe, managing editor of Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd; Martin Fitzpatrick, treasurer of the Irish Executive Council of the National Union of Journalists; Michael McNiffe, Editor of the Irish Sun; Eoin McVey, managing editor of the Irish Times; and Frank Mulrennan, president of the Regional Newspapers and Printers Association of Ireland.

“The council brings together a great range of talent and considerable
diversity of geography, background and expertise,” Mitchell added.

“All
13 members are people of achievement, standing and varied experience. I
believe all of these factors will give the Council credibility and
strong moral authority, and anyone who might seek to undermine it or
ignore its judgements can I feel expect an adverse reaction from both
press and public".

The appointments were made by a what was referred to today as an independent appointments committee.

The new press council chairman Professor Thomas Mitchell also chaired the committee and was joined by Dr Miriam Hederman-O’Brien, a former chairman of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission; Dr Maurice Manning, president of the Irish Human Rights Commission; and Kevin Murphy, former Ombudsman and Information Commissioner.

UPDATE: Greenslade over at Guardian Unlimited compares the Press Council of Ireland to the UK Press Complaints Commission.