AN AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER has apologised to Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce about an article it ran which mocked his Irish accent.

Columnist Imre Salusinszky wrote a piece in The Australian newspaper on the statements Joyce had made concerning a recent explosion on an Airbus A380.

In the article, Salusinszky reproduced Joyce’s statement in a mimicked Irish accent, writing:

Tiz too arly ter judge waaat dat issue is an’ ‘oy long it ‘ill take ter be fixed … It cud be ahn issue wi’ de casin’ or it cud be an issue wi’ de turbo-ines …

Joyce said he was ”appalled and very annoyed” by the article, and added: “I was also very disappointed that the Irish community could be insulted in such a way by a major Australian newspaper.”

Speaking to The Echo, an local Irish community newspaper, The Australian’s editor Paul Whittaker said that he  had written to apologise to Joyce. “It was a mistake,” Whittaker told the Echo. “The article slipped through the normal checks on a busy night.”

The column has since been removed from The Australian’s website.