Norris condemns the Star for coverage of libel trial
Accusing the newspaper of gloating over the Government Press Secretary’s High Court action defeat, the Trinity College senator warned against weakening the libel laws.
Fianna Fáil senator Mary O’Rourke, a close friend of Ms Johnston’s, also said she hated gloating, saying it was an awful characteristic in anyone.
Meanwhile, Ms Johnston returned to her job as the Taoiseach’s chief spokesperson yesterday, as estimates of the legal bill she faces from the trial rose to €200,000.
Describing the front page of the Star yesterday as a nasty item, Mr Norris recounted to his colleagues in the Seanad a previous personal encounter he had with The Star.
“This is the ‘sensitive’ newspaper which telephoned me at home ten or 15 years ago to find out if I could confirm that I was dying of AIDS. Those are the kinds of people we are dealing with.
“I strongly advise this House to consider and reflect upon whether it should weaken the rights of the individual, including those in public life,” the senator said. “An individual may have to take his or her chance in court, but he or she should not be bullied and crucified in this obscene manner when he or she is already distressed.”
Stating that Ms Johnston was entitled to take a libel action, Mr Norris said she was perhaps foolish to do so, but he said the outcome did not justify the changes to the laws being demanded by the newspaper industry.
“It is not enough that the whole newspaper empire should crucify one individual, it now wants the libel laws weakened.
“I warn this House against such a thing,” he told the Seanad.
Agreeing with Mr Norris’s assertion, Mr O’Rourke said she hated gloating about anything.
“If one is right, one should feel a sense of satisfaction, and if one is wrong, one hangs one’s head for a while,” she said.
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