Former President Mary Mc Aleese has written to the New York Times over its report on the Berkeley tragedy.

McAleese accuses the paper of a 'rush to judgement' in its coverage of the balcony collapse in which 6 students died

Hundreds of angry readers complained to the New York Times yesterday about the tone and content of the article accusing it of 'victim blaming' 

Ms McAleese's letter is reproduced in the Irish Times this morning but is not published in the online edition of the NYT

The New York Times issued an apology yesterday after  it suggested Irish J1 students are a 'source of embarrassment'

The newspaper admitted that some of the language used "could be interpreted as insensitive" to the victims families.

The explanation was that it was 'a second day story' that sought to contextualise the collapse a day after the deaths had taken place.

Two letters from Ireland appear in the online edition today - one from Jacqueline Doherty from Dublin the other from Colum Kenny.