Twitter suspends eight accounts linked to anonymous Barbara J Pym account used by Eoghan Harris
Columnist Eoghan Harris was part of a now-suspended Twitter account called ‘Barbara J Pym’. By Orla Dwyer Friday 7 May 2021, 2:15 PM 12 hours ago 40,563 Views 0 Comments
Image: Shutterstock/XanderSt
Image: Shutterstock/XanderSt
TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED eight additional accounts linked to the anonymous Twitter account associated with former Sunday Independent columnist Eoghan Harris.
It was reported last night that Harris admitted to editors he was part of a Twitter account, Barbara J Pym, which regularly tweeted about Irish politics and journalism.
His contract with the newspaper has been terminated with immediate effect, with the newspaper’s editor describing Harris’s involvement with the account as “a betrayal of
Harris contract at Sunday Independent terminated
Updated / Friday, 7 May 2021
17:57
There were reports Eoghan Harris was involved in the running of an anonymous Twitter account (Pic: Rollingnews.ie)
News Correspondent
The Sunday Independent columnist Eoghan Harris will no longer be writing for the newspaper, its editor has said.
The Irish Independent newspaper reported that the decision to terminate Mr Harris s contract was taken by editor Alan English, after the columnist was found to have been involved in the running of an anonymous Twitter account.
The account, in the name of Barbara J Pym, had tweeted opinions about Irish news and current affairs.
English said that after reviewing the account, many comments “went far beyond what I would describe as fair and reasonable comment. Under no circumstances would such material have been published in our newspaper or on Independent.ie.”
“This account was set up in February 2020 under the name of Barbara J Pym, mostly posting tweets about aspects of Irish politics, English said.
“Many of the views expressed – such as opposition to ‘Sinn Féin pressure for a united Ireland’ are in keeping with those articulated by Eoghan Harris in his Sunday Independent column.
“Eoghan has accepted that he was one of the founders of the account. He has also stated to me that he was ‘one of a group of people that contributed to a Barbara Pym entity’.”
BBC News
Published
image captionEoghan Harris has often commented about Northern Ireland in his columns
Columnist Eoghan Harris has had his contract terminated by Ireland s Sunday Independent newspaper over his role in a fake Twitter account.
The account, set up in February 2020 under the name Barbara J Pym, posted about aspects of Irish politics.
The journalist and former Irish senator confirmed his involvement, in an interview with RTÉ.
Mr Harris has often commented about Northern Ireland and is a long-time critic of Sinn Féin.
He told RTÉ Drivetime that he was one of the founders of the Twitter account, but in recent times he had moved to the background as more of an advisor .
Tipperary Mid West Radio
Long-time Sunday Independent columnist Eoghan Harris will no longer be writing for the paper, with immediate effect.
The decision to terminate Mr Harris’s contract was taken by editor Alan English this week, after the former Senator admitted being involved in the running of an anonymous Twitter account set up in February 2020.
“We encourage the expression of strong, sharp and diverse opinions in the Sunday Independent and Eoghan Harris’s column has been a must-read for a great number of readers for a considerable time,” said Mr English. “However, his position as a columnist became untenable when Eoghan confirmed to us this week that he has had an involvement in the operation of a fake Twitter account.