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THE TRALEE ADVERTISER has apologised after publishing an offensive ‘joke’. 

The free local newspaper published a story about a “black Jewish boy” in last Friday’s edition. The story appeared in a section of the publication called It’s Only A Joke.

After a backlash, the newspaper posted an apology online.

The apology notes that the newspaper regularly receives contributions from the public for the ‘joke’ section, which it describes as “one of the most popular pages in our magazine”.

“We regret that, in last Friday’s edition, we published in error one of our reader’s contributions. This joke was not intended to be included in our magazine as we deemed it to be of an offensive nature. We apologise for its inclusion.”

The apology states that people of all ages read this section of the magazine and that efforts are made to “ensure that content on this page will continue to do what a good joke does, which is to make us laugh, not to be offensive”.

The apology is also due to appear in the print edition of this week’s paper.

Complaints 

A number of readers complained about the inclusion of the story, labelling it “racist” and “offensive”. 

One person wrote on Facebook: “There is no place in this town, in any publication for “jokes” like this.

Tralee is a multicultural town, we all try to live in harmony. We have made great strides over the years to work towards integration and inclusion. I am very disappointed and disheartened that such a “joke” would appear in your publication.

“I am delighted to see so many people are appalled by the content. We are bigger than this. The majority of us embrace our diverse community.”