Sacked Sunday Herald columnist reinstated after ‘re-examination’ of Rangers Football Club row

The Sunday Herald has reinstated a columnist who was sacked after becoming involved in a row over Rangers Football Club.

Angela Haggerty, editor of the Common Space website, was told her column would no longer be welcome at the end of last month.

This was after she tweeted her support for sports journalist Graham Spiers, whose Herald article questioning the "mettle" of the Rangers board to tackle offensive chanting led to an apology from the newspaper. Spiers responded with a blog post in which he stood by the facts on which his opinions were based.

Haggerty told Press Gazette at the time she was "very troubled" by the decision to axe her column, which she felt had "chilling implications for freedom of the press".

At the time, Sunday Herald editor Neil Mackay distanced himself from the sacking of Haggerty, saying it was the decision of editor-in-chief Magnus Llewellin.

News of the sacking was condemned by the National Union of Journalists, politicians and Spiers, who said he was "disgusted" by the treatment of Haggerty.

In a statement today, Llewellin said: "After a couple weeks to allow things to calm down and after careful consideration – including a re-examination of the context of her original social media postings – the decision has been made to reinstate Angela as a columnist.

"She is back with the Sunday Herald this weekend."

In a tweet announcing the return of her column, Haggerty described the news as "smashing".

Reuters picture shows Rangers in action against Chelsea