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The New York Times reports on Ireland’s new leader… Ms Enda Kenny

That's MR Enda Kenny to you
That's MR Enda Kenny to you
Image: Press Association

Updated 11.10am

THE NEW YORK Times has mistaken Ireland’s new leader for a woman, perhaps not getting that Enda can be a man or a woman’s name.

Reporting on Wednesday’s election of Enda Kenny as “The Irish Republic’s” new “Prime Minister”, the error appears in a piece bylined by Times’ reporter Sarah Lyall.

The renowned “newspaper of record” says that “Ms Kenny’s center-right Fine Gael party will now govern in a coalition with the center-left Labour Party.”

Unfortunately the error was not merely a typo with the article later referring once again to the female version of Kenny, adding: “Ms. Kenny pledged to enter into a ‘covenant with the Irish people’”

The error has now been corrected by the New York Times and the reporter who wrote the piece has been in touch with TheJournal.ie to explain that the gender error was the fault of a sub-editor:

I sent Mr. Kenny to New York as a “Mr.”; an editor there seems to have randomly and unilaterally assigned him a new gender. We’ve now fixed it. I really apologize.

Unfortunately it’s not just the New York Times that got the gender of our new Taoiseach wrong, Reuters website refers to Kenny as “Edna Kenny”:

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Comments (23 Comments)

  • Ronan Byrne 10/03/11 #
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    Awful research by the NYT

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  • Lisa O'Dwyer 10/03/11 #
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    As an American in Ireland, the first time I heard Enda, it totally confused me. I would have no idea if I lived in the US that the name Enda was masculine, and it could easily be confused with Edna. Thankfully he wasn’t referred to as DAME Edna :)

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  • Denis Murphy 10/03/11 #
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    I doubt if it’s Ms. Lyall’s fault though. She’s written about Kenny before using the correct gender. A mischievous subbie?

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  • David Kenny 10/03/11 #
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    Can’t really point fingers to agressively here, apart from someone not bothering to do any research. The first time I met a male ‘Stacey’ in the US, I was totally confused. Thankfully, the ‘Stacey’ in question was about 220lbs, 6’2″, had a beard and moustache. This helped.

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  • Gary McMahon 10/03/11 #
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    It’s already been corrected.

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  • Tom Macken 10/03/11 #
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  • Sarah Lyall 10/03/11 #
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    Hello from Sarah Lyall, embarrassed reporter:

    Thanks for all your comments, and you’re right to be indignant. The only thing that makes this highly embarrassing mistake (slightly) less embarrassing, at least from my perspective, is that it was not in fact committed by me. I sent Mr. Kenny to New York as a “Mr.”; an editor there seems to have randomly and unilaterally assigned him a new gender. We’ve now fixed it. I really apologize. .

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    • Hugh O'Connell 10/03/11 #
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      Hi Sarah, thanks for getting in touch and clearing up the matter. We’ll include your comment in the story.

    • Joe Curran 10/03/11 #
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      Hi Sarah,

      Not your fault but it gave us all a good laugh (and God knows we need it)… I’d imagine you felt like “randomly and unilaterally assigning you editor a new gender” when this was brought to your notice…. anyhow no offence was meant so none shall be taken…. and please pass on my best wishes to the US president Ms. Barbara Obama!

  • Danny Crowley 10/03/11 #
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    Maybe Sarah’s sub editor had heard some of the hullabaloo the last couple of days about under-representation of women in the Dail and put two an two together?

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  • Steven ッ 10/03/11 #
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    Omg?? I mean I don’t really like him but what idiots think he’s a woman??

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  • Sean Armstrong 10/03/11 #
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    I want to know what woman thinks he’s an idiot.

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  • Marie Gonnelly 10/03/11 #
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    Personally I’m taking this as an offense to all womankind (“,) Groovy photo though Enda

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  • Catherine Vallely 10/03/11 #
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    We know he’s being hailed as the next Margaret Thatcher. Seen photos of him as Iron Maggie, so ..

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  • Maureen Kelly 10/03/11 #
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    St. Enda had a monastery on the Aran Islands. HIS name is very popular in the west, especially in Clare, Galway and Mayo. Patrick Pearse called his school in Rathfarnham after St. Enda…….Guess this could be a “learning moment” for some!! :)

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  • Gis Bayertz 10/03/11 #
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    What a surprise…. as Ireland is not one of the 50 states, attention to this type of detail is really not necessary – typical

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  • Joan Featherstone 10/03/11 #
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    I’m married to a guy called Kim, the amount of confusion this causes is unreal, he gets called jim, tim, ken and also ms Kim …however it exposes the so called ‘safe’ stuff at the bank etc, I can phone up and be ‘him’, cos I know all his details and he mine, obviously i would never ‘do’ him (love him).

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  • Joe Curran 10/03/11 #
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    well dame Edna did promise us all a CHANGE….who’d have guessed a sex change was what he had in mind!!!!well fair play to the Fine GIRL party….for electing Irelands first pre op TS as Taoiseach….some one should inform the NYT that TaoiSeach translates from Irish as TansSexual….

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  • Brian Fallon 10/03/11 #
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    Have to say great photo there Hugh!

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  • AMAS 10/03/11 #
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    Great story Hugh. Poor Sarah, the latest in very long line of reporters who have fallen victim to a sub editor’s pen (or keystroke).

    Early in my journalistic career, in the days when copy was taken in over the phone, a story was called in about the financial markets . Quotes were attributed in the published article to a ‘guilt supervisor’. That took some explaining to the stockbroker’s head of gilts.

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  • Jean Morel 11/03/11 #
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    let’s be honest…Enda is NOT a man’s name!

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  • Jean Morel 11/03/11 #
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    you know Americans…they hear Enda and they go …Enda?!….you mean EDNA! haha!

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