Tribunal injunction - Draconian ruling puts gag on media

FREEDOM of the press is a central plank of democracy. Inherent in that principle should be the right of journalists to protect their sources.

That cannot be said of Ireland, however, especially after yesterday’s High Court decision to grant the Mahon Tribunal injunctions against the Sunday Business Post, preventing it from publishing any confidential tribunal material in the future before it has been disclosed in a public hearing of the tribunal or has been cleared for publication by the tribunal.

Central to yesterday’s proceedings was the confrontation between Judge Alan Mahon and the Sunday Business Post over journalist Barry O’Kelly’s refusal to reveal the source of confidential documents.

By implication, in a truly astonishing move that goes far beyond the range of the tribunal’s argument with Ireland’s leading business paper, the court has issued an order which is absolutely breathtaking in its sweeping effect on the broader media.

Not only has it muzzled the Sunday Business Post, the paper the tribunal claimed had sinned, it has also gagged the entire media and practically every person in the country. That bizarre scenario is clear from the catch-all wording of the order aimed at the Sunday Business Post but which also extends to “all other persons having knowledge of the granting of the order”.

This literally means every newspaper, every radio station, every television channel, and anyone in the land who reads a paper, listens to the radio or watches television. At a stroke, by drawing disinterested parties into the argument, the tribunal battle with the Post has been turned into a media-wide war. The orders remain in force until January 17, 2005, when the parties return to the High Court.

It is no exaggeration to describe the injunction as an instrument of unprecedented breadth. The High Court is literally tarring everyone with the same brush.

Basically, there are two separate issues involved in the ongoing dispute. Having secured yesterday’s injunction, the tribunal intends to seek an order against Barry O’Kelly to compel him to disclose his sources for stories published on October 17 and 24 relating to land deals in Dublin. That will be a subject of separate proceedings and Mr O’Kelly could be imprisoned.

The High Court ruling gives a new sense of urgency to the media campaign for the Government to introduce legislation that would enable journalists to keep their sources confidential. Basically, that would bring Ireland into line with most other European countries.

This is an issue that goes to the very heart of debate on press freedom. Essentially, it raises fundamental questions about witness confidentiality and the legal authority of tribunals.

The bitter irony is that the draconian ruling of the High Court emasculates the media despite its vital role as society’s watchdog in exposing corruption in the murky world of Irish politics and business.

This is no way to run a country. The public deserve better.