Lough Lannagh Article, May 2008
In May 2008, the Mayo Echo published an article about alleged gay activity at a local beauty spot in the town of Castlebar. The article sparked hot debate in the local and national press, on national radio and online forums - mainly over its association of the word "pervert" with homosexuality, and the fact that photographs were printed of one person allegedly involved, with their vehicle number plate clearly visible.
Tony Geraghty, editor of the Mayo Echo, objected to some comments about the original article published on the regional bulletin board at http://www.castlebar.ie/. He contacted the website requesting that the comments be removed and that an apology be published. An apology was published and the comments were removed, but new comments appeared, including one allegedly threatening to burn the Mayo Echo's offices into the ground. Geraghty then issued a threat of legal action against the website and, as a result, the entire site was removed by the site managers and replaced with a commentary on the events. Geraghty then demanded a list of the names of all the site moderators and contributors, but the site managers refused this request. In quick succession, a campaign website was set up (savecastlebarie.org - no longer online), and groups were formed on Facebook and Myspace. Eventually, Geraghty dropped his threat of legal action and the full website at http://www.castlebar.ie/ returned shortly afterwards.
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