The Journal, by paying for these photo’s will mean the cameraman is at the next tragic funeral to take more photo’s and intrude on peoples heartbreak even more. I thought the Journal was a better news outlet than the rest.
Hopefully the next time they will be. I live around the corner from this church.

Hi Pauric, E D

Thanks for the feedback. While I agree that taking pictures at funerals is debatable, tragedies on our roads are newsworthy and need to be reported. I believe the images have been used across all Irish news platforms this morning. Hopefully by highlighting this horrific event, another road fatality can be avoided.

As for paying for photos, these were taken by an agency to which we have a subscription. The photographers do their best not to be intrusive at such events and are all professional men and women.

Thanks,
Sinead

Sinead, your reply sums it up. ” I believe the images have been used across all Irish news platforms this morning”
Well if everyone else is doing it, it must be ok. Have we learned nothing from history and the Nazi’s. I thought The Journal was a new angle on news reporting. Maybe I was wrong.

As for “The photographers do their best not to be intrusive at such events”. Sometimes doing your best is just not good enough.

‘we have learned nothing from the nazis and history’… Seriously?

If those photo’s make even one driver think a bit and slow down then they are worth every penny spent on them.

Hey Sinead, i do not really agree and I think it’s quite intrusive for this poor family that these pictures are splashed across all media outlets today.
To the point about saving lives I believe the investigation into the cause of this tragedy is ongoing. Today should be about a family mourning the loss of their children .

I’ll have to agree with Rebecca there, not sure how or why Nazis are being brought into this thread.

TheJournal.ie does offer something different, but we are still essentially a news site and this horrific crash was newsworthy – and as Kerry pointed out, if the reporting of it keeps road safety to the forefront of just one person’s mind, then there is something good in that.

We have received no complaints from family members about the use of the images.
Thanks
Sinead

Just to add Pauric, I am not making presumptions about the cause of this particular accident. Just pointing out that an increased awareness of road safety is something that we need to achieve as a country.

I agree with Pauric. My brother died this time last year in a car accident and having the photos printed of the funeral and the car wreckage in the paper was awful. Infact the media intrusion as a whole on families at times like this is a disgrace. I dont mean the basic reporting of it in the paper or online as I guess it is ‘news worthy’, but the actual lengths that are gone to get information or something to print from the families themselves.

Hi Béibhínn,

Very sorry to hear about your brother. My deepest sympathies.

And apologies if this article upset you further. Just to note, we haven’t contacted – nor do we ever contact – any family mourning a loved one. We didn’t send a reporter to the funeral in Tallaght either.

Thanks for your feedback – it’s something I’ll raise at our next editorial meeting,

Sinead

Thanks Sinead. No it hasn’t upset me in that sense, I’m just agreeing with others with regards to the photography. I have to say The Journal are quite sensitive and decent in matters such as this and do moderate well. My comment wasn’t a dig at The Journal.

Was thinking that myself.

Lads i wouldn’t even give them the satisfaction of a response. Would love to know myself but our 3comments will be red thumbed now. Sad sad people.

Sometimes the red thumbs are hit accidentally, on an android phone for example. Very small screen versus very big fingers (in comparison).

Andrea I am afraid you are being very naive., While that might account for a small proportion of the red thumbs the majority are hit by sick individuals or cowardly pond life trying to be controversial. Either way they are not worthy of your time or energy. Simply ignore them. Now roll on the red thumbs.

she said sometimes….she has a point and is not saying that it is the sole reason but part of the reason. so you are both right.

Many other sites which accept comments allow you to change your vote from Up to Down – especially useful if you touch the wrong button on a smartphone.

I don’t know why The Journal doesn’t implement this sensible measure.

This issue arises every single time there are red thumbs on tragic stories, i.e. every single time.

sorry didny mean to post twice

@The Baxter. You are wasting your time asking ‘red thumbers’ to explain themselves. I have tried it in the past. While some might be explained mishitting on smartphones. The majority are cowardly trolls that think they are being controversial. At least that is my assumption because no one has every posted a reply to my questions on this to try and explain why someone would red thumb a message of condolence. Now watch as this comment is hammered by red thumbs but not one of these red thumbers will try to explain why they are doing this.

Have you lost family or friends to dangerous drivers baxter? The journal is right to highlight this. You could show a little respect for the innocent victims.