19 NEW PUBLICATIONS


DUP anger fuels the interest in Sam’s sizzler


The naked anger of the Democratic Unionist Party at the investigative work of NUJ member Sam McBride has merely fuelled interest in ‘Burned’, the inside story of the Cash for Ash story in Northern Ireland. Sold out on launch day, ‘Burned’ immediately


went in to reprint. Within days the author was inundated with complaints from those anxious to get their hands on the book. The Belfast Newsletter Political Editor had been attacked in a Facebook rant by Ian Paisley MP for his analysis of the consequences for Northern Ireland of the DUP’s support for Boris Johnson. Paisley was forced to issue a public apology


after the NUJ led a campaign in defence of the union member. Irish Secretary Séamus Dooley described the


attack on Sam as “a clear attempt to smear the professional reputation of a conscientious journalist.” As it happens, McBride’s analysis proved to be


correct, as abortion was decriminalised and same sex marriage introduced in the absence of the Stormont Assembly.


Sam says thanks


Sam McBride was supported by his own newspaper when fiercely attacked by Ian Paisley. However Sam chiefly attributes the DUP climbdown to the stand taken by his union over a weekend before he had time to consult company lawyers over the undoubted defamatory comments. In an email to the Irish Secretary he wrote: "I've been a union member since I started in journalism and, probably like most people, usually don't think that much about it. It's a


cliché to say that one appreciates a union in difficult times, but that is nonetheless true and I have been deeply appreciative of what you did in speaking intelligently on my behalf and kicking off the process which led to last night's retraction. "You were the first person to raise the issue publicly and that is what precipitated all of the opposition to what he [Paisley] had done and support for not just me but for the principle of journalistic freedom."


Sam McBride at Stormont with his new book ‘Burned’. Photo: Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press.


The attempted smear backfired as Paisley’s


statement led to a spike in demand for pre- orders of the book. There was a further spike when it was revealed that Arlene Foster and four other senior DUP figures had threatened legal proceedings over the book's publication.


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