Newspaper threatened with lawsuit by judge

A PROMINENT district court judge has issued a statement refuting allegations made about him in the Irish edition of The Sunday Times and has warned that he is considering suing the newspaper for defamation.

In a statement issued yesterday, Sean M MacBride, judge of the District Court area of Cavan-Monaghan, describes as “deeply offensive” a front page article entitled “Revealed: Judges in jobs plea” written by journalist Mark Tighe and published by The Sunday Times last Sunday.

The judge also takes exception to a further article entitled “The lawyers who lobbied to the top” on page 4 of the same edition of the newspaper as well as to an editorial under the heading “Choice of judges must be transparent”.

In his statement, Judge MacBride says: “The tone and context of the said article and publications are derogatory, defamatory and deeply offensive to me and the office I hold as a judge of the district court.

“By innuendo suggestions and content, the said articles imply that I was not recommended by the Independent Judicial Appointments Board set up under the Court and Courts Officers Act 1995. Such a suggestion is a falsehood and untrue.”

The Sunday Times named six lawyers, including Judge MacBride, who were made judges between 1998 and 2007 and said that the appointments followed representations made on their behalf to the minister for justice by senior Fianna Fáil politicians.

According to The Sunday Times article, in 1999, Jim McDaid, then minister for tourism and sport, wrote to then justice minister John O’Donoghue on behalf of Sean MacBride, who was then a solicitor in practice in Donegal. Mr MacBride was appointed a district judge nine months later.

In his statement, Judge MacBride refers to his academic qualifications in law, including an Honours BCL he received from University College Dublin in 1972 and an Honours Master of Law Degree conferred in 1976.

He also includes the marks he received in his solicitor’s law exams.

Judge MacBride outlines his experience as a lawyer prior to his appointment as a district judge and points out that he was admitted as an attorney and counsellor-at-law of the New York State Bar in 1988.

“I was twice recommended by the Independent Judicial Appointments Board for appointment to the office of judge of the district court and recommended to the government for such an appointment in 1998 and 1999.

“I was appointed by the president of Ireland with effect from September 30, 1999, on the advice of the government in accordance with the Constitution. I was appointed on merit.”

On Monday, Judge MacBride read out his statement during a court session in Monaghan “in order to protect my integrity as judge of the District Court and the office I hold”.

Richard Oakley, news editor of The Sunday Times, Irish edition, said yesterday: “We have not received any correspondence from Judge Sean MacBride so are not in a position to comment other than to say that we stand over the content of our story.”