The family of the late Liam Lawlor is seeking a copy of an unpublished internal investigation by the Sunday Independentinto the manner in which it reported the former Fianna Fáil TD's death.
Separately, the National Union of Journalists has called for the publication of the report, which was compiled in response to widespread criticism of the way the newspaper reported the crash in which Mr Lawlor died in October 2005.
The Sunday Independentand three others titles controlled by Independent News and Media (INM) this week agreed to pay Julia Kushnir, an interpreter travelling with Mr Lawlor who survived the crash, about €400,000 in libel damages after they wrongly described her as a prostitute in subsequent reports.
The Lawlor family believes that with the conclusion of Ms Kushnir's proceedings, the way is now clear for INM management to release the findings of their internal investigation to Mr Lawlor's widow, Hazel.
Responding to the public outcry over the media reporting of Mr Lawlor's death in October 2005, INM offered to meet Ms Lawlor to apologise and to give her a copy of the report. It also offered to make a donation to a charity of her choice, according to a Lawlor family source.
However, when Ms Kushnir began her libel proceedings, the company said the matter was sub judice and the report could not be released until the legal issues were disposed of.
Attempts to get a response from INM management yesterday were not successful.
Lawyers for INM claimed editorial privilege over sections of the report in Ms Kushnir's case, although some documents were provided to her lawyers in pre-trial discussions.
A transcript of a conversation between the Moscow police and a freelance journalist working for the Sunday Independentappears to show that there was no evidence that the woman injured in the Lawlor car was a prostitute.
Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists, Séamus Dooley, said that with the ending of the Kushnir case he could not envisage any reason why the report should not be published.
He said it was the "last remaining piece of the jigsaw" which could explain what had happened on a "dark day" for Irish journalism in the immediate aftermath of Mr Lawlor's death.
Mr Dooley told RTÉ radio it was regrettable that it had taken so long for Ms Kushnir to get her rightful settlement.
However, it was now time to "move on" and learn from the lessons provided by this episode.
A press council had since been appointed, a press ombudsman appointed and a new code of practice was in place and it was to be expected that these innovations would have an impact on any future issues that might arise, Mr Dooley said.
