An interview with Joe MacAnthony
“Above all, perhaps, the story [of the Irish Hospital’s Sweepstake] underlines what journalism must continue to combat: censorship, state secrecy and the unwarranted power of an influential few.” [Stephen Dodd writing in 2003 in the Sunday Independent, one of only a handful of mainstream articles on the issue] [1]
In the early 1920’s, lotteries promising huge prizes and pledging support for worthy causes gained enormous popularity across the world. With no governing body or independent commission to monitor their working, corruption and fraud dogged these alleged charitable enterprises, their prizes and monies frequently disappearing.
In Ireland, the lotteries fiercest critic of the time was Justice Minister Kevin O’Higgins. He claimed to have ‘developed pneumonia from the dampness in his office caused by the tears of lottery promoters who are coming in crying about the poor and how they wanted to help them.’
MEDIABITE 