Traveller begins libel action against newspaper

A SETTLED Traveller who claims he was libelled in a front-page Sunday World story alleging he was a drug dealer began an action for damages before a jury in the High Court yesterday.

Martin McDonagh, 45, described as a businessman of Cranmore Drive, Sligo, is suing the Sunday World arising out of an article published on September 5, 1999, which he says called him a Traveller “drug king” following his arrest during an investigation by gardaí into a significant drugs seizure in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, that year.

The newspaper denies the claim and says the words complained of are true in substance and fact.