Mr. S?amus Dooley:

I do not think there is evidence of that. Clearly, there are live cases, one of which I have a particular concern about. I will not mention the parties. An individual journalist has been sued, which has implications. Without going through a history lesson, the reality is that there is a history of politicians from all parties taking cases. One of the most famous cases was the Reynolds case. The late Albert Reynolds was adamant that the fact that he was a politician did not mean he did not have the right to use defamation laws. He was very blunt and upfront on that point.

I encourage politicians to use restraint. The point made at the beginning of the meeting was that defamation actions can threaten the future of a newspaper. One action could wipe out a regional or national paper. That should give people pause for thought. If we accept as one arm of democracy that newspapers are fundamental, then there is an onus on those are part of that to ask whether they have to do something and if there is another way of settling a difference.