Beverly Flynn saga - Set up press complaints commission

There is a palpable sense of public outrage over the Beverley Flynn settlement.

She sued RTÉ for libel, but the licence fee payers will ultimately foot much of the bill.

If she had won the case, she would not have settled for the payment of part of her costs, or part of the award. Hence many people feel cheated at RTÉ’s commercial decision to get as much as possible without losing further money in putting her into bankruptcy.

For years RTÉ had the reputation of being a soft touch, because it quietly settled libel claims on a strictly commercial basis. Fighting a case would ultimately cost much more in damages and legal expenses than settling out of court.

Obscene sums of money were awarded in some court cases, which meant out-of-court settlements became ever more expensive. Hence, it became necessary to fight more cases, and libel litigation developed into a kind of lottery. Winners have been balanced by a number of high-profile cases in which litigants lost and incurred massive legal costs, such as cases involving politicians Albert Reynolds and Beverley Flynn, and media specialists Mandy Johnston and Monica Leech.

In the end both the public and the media lost out. The lawyers were the real winners. The whole thing further highlights the need for the promised press complaints commission.