Irish Times forced to pay legal costs

Posted by Jennifer Lush on November 27, 2009 at 1:13 PM

Irish Times editor, Geraldine Kennedy and a Times journalist, Colm Kenna, have been forced to pay a legal bill amounting to 600,000€ between them, despite winning a case in which they were defending their right to refuse to reveal sources.

The Irish Times reports that the pair were ordered to pay the costs because of "exceptional circumstances" in the case, which arose after the tribunal sought a court order compelling Kennedy and Keena to answer questions relating to the source of an article about financial payments to former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

The paper, which has destroyed a document which was the basis of a story about the Mahon Tribunal, was told by the Supreme Court that their behaviour 'did not entitle them to an order for costs in their favour.'

Kennedy expressed disappointment at this decision given the unanimous verdict of the five judges to find in their favour but stressed that the most important aim had been achieved: "I want to be absolutely clear about one thing. My only concern was to serve the public's right to know by bringing Colm Keena's story to publication and, in doing so, to protect journalistic sources in the process"

"It was a landmark judgment, enshrining the principle of journalistic privilege and the protection of sources into Irish law for the very first time," she added.

Nevertheless, some have accused the Supreme Court of hindering press freedom by forcing the Times to pay legal costs. Roy Greenslade on his blog, has written: "In effect, the judges - having formerly upheld the principle of journalists protecting their sources - were punishing the paper for having done just that." He continued: "In that sense, the 600,000€ that the Irish Times must now pay amounts to a fine and is therefore an attack on press freedom. "

The accusation is a surprising one, given Ireland was ranked in joint first position by press freedom watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières in the Press Freedom Index 2009.

Source: Irish Times, Greenslade Blog