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| | On being an Irish Foreign Correspondent - Paddy Smyth |
 | | The substantial British media overhang into the Irish market, whether TV or tabloid, the connections of family and business, a common currency, and the historical relationship of dependency on our nearest neighbour that EU membership would eventually erode, all contributed. |
 | | The foreign expansion would, however, be cut short by the financial crisis suffered in 2001-2002 which saw a shedding of one third of its workforce and the closing of offices in Washington and Beijing, the curtailing of the London operation, and the dismantling of the specialist Foreign Desk. |
 | | With highly accessible Irish officials and politicians functioning at the highest levels of the Commission and Parliament - David O’Sullivan, as Secretary General, Padraig Flynn and then David Byrne, as Commissioners, and Pat Cox as President respectively - the small Irish press corps of four full-time correspondents was perhaps particularly privileged. |
| www.jesuit.ie /studies/articles/2004/Smyth.htm (3549 words) |
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