Party and Government Press Secretary
He was appointed Press Secretary of the Fianna Fáil party in 1974, based at Leinster House. He was head of the Irish Government's Information Service and Government Press Secretary from 1977 to 1982, a position that had been established on Dunlop's recommendation. This role involved developing relationships with media outlets, including RTÉ, The Irish Times, Irish Independent amongst others. There were no other authorised radio stations in Ireland at this stage although there were quite a number of illegal broadcasters. The Government Information Service, prior to Dunlop's time, was the established unit of the Taoiseach's office for the dissemination of information relating to the activities of the Government. Dunlop described its role to The Mahon Tribunal in 2003, as being a 'post office' - "it just delivered copies of statements, speeches, announcements, CSO details to the news desks of newspapers; there was no substantive policy discussions with the media prior to that time".
The objective was to facilitate an understanding in the media of what Fianna Fáil was doing or was about at that time. This role enabled Dunlop to develop significant relationships with political correspondents, news reporters, editorial personnel and politicians.
Read more about this topic: Frank Dunlop
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