1:32:14
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
1:32:18
I am truly humbled and honored
to receive this award.
1:32:22
My first reaction was,
''I hope I haven't been given it
1:32:25
just because I was shot.''
1:32:28
I don't believe that's really
important here,
1:32:32
but I do believe no journalist
should give in to intimidation.
1:32:35
I am delighted to accept it
not only on behalf of myself,
1:32:38
and my colleagues
in the Sunday Globe,
1:32:41
but on behalf of all my
colleagues in the print
1:32:44
and broadcast media
in Ireland,
1:32:48
who work under
some of the most
1:32:50
ridiculous restrictive
libel laws in the world.
1:32:54
I now understand that what we
are pursuing in a way
1:32:57
which might seem obsessive to
the outsider, is truth and justice.
1:33:02
Lofty words, maybe,
1:33:04
but what greater
inspiration could there be?
1:33:13
There is a life
in our country
1:33:15
that the majority
of people don't know about.
1:33:18
The judicial system has been
largely ineffective
1:33:20
in addressing the problem.
1:33:21
Politicians have not had
the will to change the system.
1:33:24
And the police have been
tied down by legislation
1:33:28
that in virtually every instance
favors the criminal.
1:33:32
What we're left with
is an underworld
1:33:36
protected by the very system
it seeks to corrupt.
1:33:39
So we have the godfathers
buying property,
1:33:42
drinking in the best bars,
holidaying in the finest locations,
1:33:45
exploiting the system
while a growing army
1:33:48
of young men, women,
even children,
1:33:50
walk around our housing projects
like survivors of some holocaust,
1:33:54
desperate for
the chemicals that will
1:33:56
keep them going
for just one more day.
1:33:58
And so, I am truly humbled
to receive this award