The editor of a student newspaper at Trinity College Dublin has described her disappointment at attempts to cut the paper's funding following its reporting of alleged 'hazing' at an all-male society on the campus.

Eleanor O'Mahony was speaking after reporters from The University Times were accused of placing a recording device outside a student's apartment while an alleged hazing event was taking place.

Ms O'Mahony is now facing a student petition calling for her to step down over the 'bugging incident' and for funding to be cut for the newspaper, which she said would effectively bring an end to the decade-old publication.

Speaking about the referendum, which will take place on April 1, Ms O'Mahony said: "I am obviously gutted." But she added: "We will continue to stand up for the paper and for journalism.

"Most recently we reported last week about hazing in the Knights of the Campanile society, with a full account of how we reported it.

"Following this, and an article calling for my resignation, we published a note to our readers, explaining the rationale behind publishing the piece.

"Students will vote on whether or not to take the paid position of editor away and whether or not to cut the funding of the paper to €3,000 a year."

Ms O'Mahony warned that if the referendum passed "it would basically abolish the newspaper".

She added: "It would result in the paper no longer existing in its current form. There's also oversight they want to bring in which would mean [external forces would have to] approve every step we do."

When contacted by the Sunday Independent, a spokesperson for the Knights of the Campanile said it couldn't comment on the incident until "the internal investigations from the office of the Junior Dean in Trinity have been concluded".

Sunday Independent