Clare Daly and Mick Wallace deny claims their lawsuit against RTÉ is harassment

Independent MEPS Mick Wallace and Clare Daly have rejected allegations that their lawsuit against RTÉ is harassment. Picture: Gareth Chaney Collins

Independent MEPS Clare Daly and Mick Wallace have rejected allegations that their lawsuit against RTÉ is harassment.

The Index on Censorship and the International Press Institute issued an 'alert' through the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform, classifying the Irish MEPs' case as intimidation of journalists.

The lawsuits were filed just less than a year after RTÉ Radio broadcast an interview with Nathalie Loiseau MEP, in which she accused Mick Wallace and Clare Daly of having spread false information during a session of the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Security and Defence.

The MEPs released a statement noting their case against the broadcaster was “a well-founded and necessary lawsuit” and claim the decision was taken without any correspondence with their offices.

“Our lawsuit against RTÉ is with the courts, and we cannot comment on its details. However, it is not - as alleged by Index on Censorship - a “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation” (SLAPP) - a case of journalists being prevented from public participation by powerful interests abusing the legal system,” a statement said.

“It is rather a legitimate use of the legal system to defend our own right as independent MEPs - and the right of others who share our views - to our own participation in public life, without unfair and reputationally harmful misrepresentation by a state broadcaster.” 

The pair say the wider context of their lawsuit is that they suffered “a sustained campaign in the Irish press and broadcast media of misrepresentation and manipulation of our public statements and our political views”.

They say the effect of this alleged campaign has been to do harm to their reputations as public figures, and “to discredit and damage public perception of anti-war politics and to intimidate and disincentivise voices for peace and neutrality.” 

“We are not afraid of criticism or accountability. We invite it. Few non-government politicians in recent history have undergone more scrutiny in the Irish press. 

"We are also strong advocates of press freedom, have robustly advocated in favour of anti-SLAPP measures in the European Parliament, and have defended the rights of imprisoned journalists, including Julian Assange.

"However, we reserve our rights as Irish citizens to seek a remedy in the courts. In a law-bound society, the press, too, must be accountable. Nothing about this is an attack on press freedom.”