19/12 The Sunday Papers

The Front Pages

The main headline in the Sunday Independent is '‘Corrupt’ gardai hid Gerry Ryan coke habit'. Sources in the Gardai and in the Department of Justice have informed the Indo that Gardai have protected figures in the media over the years with drug habits and that others have been warned off making an investigation for that very reason.

Gerry Ryan's drug dealer is said to be well known and, according to the Indo, half of all his trade is with RTE. 68 per cent of people are convinced of a 'conspiracy of silence' at RTE, according to a Sunday Independent poll, something former RTE DJ Gareth O'Callaghan is convinced of.

“It's been the biggest shock of my career that people who I have worked with for 18 years have formed a solid, impenetrable wall of silence,” he said. “Since I have spoken out the phone has stopped ringing. I would usually be asked out for a drink — this week the invites have stopped.”

RTE's vow of silence is also the main headline in the Sunday Tribune - 'RTÉ closes ranks on star's years of sustained drug use'. Another story in the newspaper is 'Defrocked priest charged with possession of child pornography'.

Oliver O'Grady, who was the subject of the 2006 documentary Deliver Us From Evil, raped dozens of children in the United States between 1971 and 1993, a fact which was covered up by authorities in the Catholic Church who were aware since at least 1976. He was been living in Ireland since 2001.

O'Grady was arrested at his Dublin hostel on Friday morning just after 7am on child pornography charges. "We are talking about thousands upon thousands of images of child pornography," Garda Johanna Doyle told the court. "Children from the age of two and three up to teenage boys and girls."

Tales of the Tabs

A headline in the Mail on Sunday is '"Homosexuality is a sin" street preacher wins £7k from police'. In Cumbria, England, Dale Mcalpine was arrested for using "threatening, abusive or insulting words to cause harassment, alarm or distress contrary to Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986" when he told a gay police officer that homosexuals were acting against the word of God.

The charges have since been dropped and the Cumbria Police have been forced to pay him £7,000 in compensation on top of his legal costs. A statement from the Christian Institute has hailed the verdict, saying "We’re obviously pleased that Cumbria Police has seen common sense. But Mr Mcalpine should not have been arrested in the first place. Sadly, it’s not an isolated case. The Government needs to amend the Public Order Act as a matter of urgency."

MacAlpine himself added, "I am delighted the police are going to apologise. It is not about the money but about freedom of speech. I hope the police will in future do their duty defending freedom of speech." The street preacher says he isn't homophobic though he does believe homosexuality is a sin.

Sports Pages

In the News of the World is the story 'Harry set to snub England,' which suggests that the Tottenham manager will end his career at White Hart Lane. When asked if that is what he wants, Redknapp replied, "Of course I would. For sure, only I don't think that far ahead.

"In this game you just never know. Yeah, it's gone great but I was enjoying my life before and out of the blue suddenly you get a phone call. It never entered my mind that I would leave Portsmouth, I was enjoying it there and suddenly you get an offer to come here.

"Whoever thought Sam Allardyce would get the sack. It can turn so quickly, half a dozen games and suddenly you don't know what you're doing. You go from being the cleverest person in the world to being the biggest idiot in the world. That's how this game works unfortunately."

Redknapp has said that he would like to work for England before, however, and expressed an interest in leading out the team at the next Olympics.

In the Observer is 'Rafael Benítez issues ultimatum to Inter after Club World Cup win.' Following the Italian side's 3-0 victory over Mazembe in Abu Dhabi yesterday, Benitez had some strong words for Inter president Massimo Moratti. "There are three possibilities," the Spaniard said.

"First, 100 per cent support for the coach and buy four or five players to build a stronger team, with competition among the players to be able to carry on winning matches and trophies.

"Second, carry on like this without a project, without planning and go ahead with one person to blame, for the whole season getting to May this way. The third is to speak to my agent, reach an agreement if there is not this support."

Moratti has criticised the timing of Benitez' ultimatum, saying, "It's not the moment to ask for reinforcements. It is not something we will decide now." Inter are currently struggling in seventh in Serie A, 13 points behind leaders AC Milan.