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Exposing the shadows: tracking the evolution of Ireland’s corruption laws and the role of the media
Date
2025
Abstract
Corruption-related issues tended not to form a considerable part of the Irish news agenda before the 1990s, much less an element of everyday conversation. The position changed markedly thereafter, with corruption frequently dominating media coverage. This surge in reporting coincided, in 1995, with the first amendment to Ireland’s anti-corruption legislation since 1916. A burst of legislative activity followed, addressing corrupt behaviour, and culminating in the Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018. This observation prompted this research exploring the development of Ireland’s corruption laws, as they existed from the foundation of the State, with a particular focus on the interplay between media coverage and legislative
developments. While the trajectory of Irish corruption laws post-1922 was characterised by significant inertia, a legislative resurgence followed from 1995.
To explain the reasons behind this legislative inertia and subsequent revival, this research examines a pervasiveness indicator of corruption during each decade from 1922 by reviewing corruption prosecutions before the Irish courts. The findings reveal a consistent low-level of prosecutions. However, they also highlight the emergence of a dichotomy that began to take hold from the 1960s, when the persistent infrequency of court prosecutions slowly started to contrast with a steady escalation in media-reported rumours of corrupt practices across Irish society. This research contextualises that emerging dichotomy against prevailing social, economic and political conditions and the position of the Irish media. It shows the emergence of a more robust media towards the latter part of the twentieth century, which placed an increased focus on corruption, and shaped public discourse and values around corrupt behaviours. This emboldened media began exposing a series of scandals from the 1990s, leading to the establishment of Tribunals, which exposed systemic corruption at the highest level of a section of the public and private sector. This ultimately compelled the legislature to respond.
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Description
Publisher
University of Limerick
Citation
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Nohilly_2025_Exposing.pdf
Adobe PDF, 3.82 MB
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Funding code
Funding Information
Sustainable Development Goals
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License
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International