Breen ruling - Protection of sources vital

The protection of sources is a fundamental aspect of press freedom, which is vital to a functioning democracy. The Irish Examiner, therefore, warmly welcomes the High Court ruling in Belfast that journalist Suzanne Breen does not have to give the PSNI her interview notes of discussions with a member of the Real IRA.

She had reported that a Real IRA source claimed responsibility for the murders of two British soldiers at the Massereene army base in Antrim last March. While those murders were rightly deplored, the protection of press sources is an entirely different issue.

Some of the most important stories of recent decades – in relation to wars, political corruption, and criminal activities – have been broken as a result of leaks to reporters. Hence it is vital that press freedom should be protected.

That freedom would have been seriously undermined if Ms Breen had been ordered to break her clear obligation of confidentiality. The ruling was quite specific in that the judge found in her favour on the grounds that her life would have been in danger, if she disclosed the information. It would have been preferable if the judgment had gone further in relation to protecting confidentiality in broader circumstances.