Blurred Keys

Damages of €90,000 have been awarded against Associated Newspapers Ireland after a woman sued the newspaper publisher for using unlawfully tapped phone conversations in articles.

The court ruled the articles which appeared in Ireland on Sunday (now the Irish Mail on Sunday) were a breach of her constitutional right to privacy.

MORE: Woman awarded €90,000 over phone-tap articles

- Firm say they are not acting on any clients’ behalf
- Solicitors ask for the “name and address” of users
- Politics website transfers to US servers after claim

Frank Ward & Co, solicitors for Taoiseach and the Fianna Fail, have had comments removed from an Irish politics website after claiming them to be libellous to the firm.   

The offending posting on Politics.ie referred to the handling by Frank Ward & Co of their former client Grainne Carruth around the time she was giving submissions to the Mahon Tribunal. Carruth, who is Bertie Ahern’s former secretary, changed solicitors between different dealing she has had with the tribunal.

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A jury verdict that a restaurant review in the Irish News was libellous has been overturned by Judges at the Belfast Court of Appeal.

Ciaran Convery, owner of the ‘Goodfellas’ restaurant, had said
the review was a "hatchet job," he was quoted by the Guardian as saying yesterday: "In my eyes it makes a farce of the judicial system when a jury is overturned… It’s not over yet. It was never about the damages anyway."

The appeals court left the option of a retrial open, but it is up to Convery to pursue one, and the Irish News has said they will defend any further action.

MORE: At the Guardian (free) or at the Irish Times (subs reqd)

The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland will hear the case of restaurant review which was said to be defamatory by a jury last year.

The review of the ‘Goodfellas’ Italian restaurant in west Belfast was published in the Irish News newspaper in 2000.

Last February, £25,000 in damages was awarded against the newspaper to restaurant owner Ciaran Convery,
who said the review was a "hatchet job".

Meanwhile, the reviewer, Caroline
Workman, said it was "completely honest", the Irish News said the case "raises
profound questions involving the freedom of the press", while the NUJ called the result “disturbing”. The appeal is due to be heard on Wednesday. (Via Greenslade)

An Irish Daily Mail colour article was found to be prejudicial and has led to a jury being dismissed in a libel action case against Ireland on Sunday, now the Irish Mail on Sunday.

The High Court libel action was taken by broadcaster Paddy
O’Gorman against Associated Newspapers. O’Gorman is suing the paper group over an
article published in 2003 which he claims accused him of displaying
"perverted sexuality" while taking part in the RTE Celebrity Farm reality
TV show.

MORE: Libel action halted after article (subs reqd)
MORE: Jury in O’Gorman trial discharged

The first Press Ombudsman was
appointed yesterday and should be able to take complaints about the print media
in Ireland from November.

Members of the public with still be asked to contact newspapers or
magazines first. If unsatisfied, the next step will be to contact the Office of the Press
Ombudsman, only major complaints or complaints unsatisfied at ombudsmen
level will be passed on to the Press Council of Ireland.

The ombudsman will have no powers to fine newspapers only to make them publish
his decision.

The new ombudsman, Dr John Horgan, called for the Defamation Bill to be
reintroduced as soon as possible. Horgan was
professor of journalism at Dublin City University before resigning last
year. He is also a former Labour TD, Senator, and a MEP.

He had previously worked at the Evening Press, the Catholic Herald in London,
and for the Irish Times where he reported on religion and education. Horgan also
was Editor of the Education Times, and has freelanced for the New York Review
of Books, the London Review of Books, the Guardian, and Le Monde diplomatique
among others.

"This means that Ireland finally has a complaints mechanism that
is free, easy to use, totally independent and available to every
citizen," said Prof Mitchell was quoted in today’s Irish Times. "Anyone who feels aggrieved by a
newspaper article or photograph can avail of this mechanism without
having to risk spending a fortune by going to court".

Monica Leech has lost her libel action against the Irish Independent. Leech claimed she was libelled by the newspaper in an article about claims made on the RTE radio show Liveline.

The PR woman previously won €250,000 in damages from RTE due to comments made on the show.

MORE: Leech loses High Court damages action (free access).

Earlier today, English journalist Ian Bailey started an appeal over the failed libel action against Irish and UK newspapers over their linking of him to the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

Bailey was arrested twice, but never charged. The newspaper involved are the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the Sunday Times and IN&M titles the Sunday Independent, (London) Independent on Sunday, and the Irish Daily Star (then the Star).
More text and video at RTE.ie.

A review of an Italian restaurant published in the Irish News newspaper has been found defamatory by a Belfast jury.

The newspaper, which was landed with a bill of £25,000 in damages, is to appeal the judgment.

Owner of the west Belfast ‘Goodfellas’ restaurant, Ciaran Convery, said the review was a "hatchet job". While the reviewer Caroline Workman said it was "completely honest".

A spokesman for the newspaper said "The outcome of this case raises profound questions involving the freedom of the press". Referring to a possible precedent, the National Union of Journalists called the result “disturbing”.

More at guardian.co.uk and at irishexaminer.com.