Mr. S?amus Dooley:

I am not aware of any. I was involved in the steering committee, chaired by Tom Mitchell and facilitated by Maurice Hayes at the early stages. There was a lot of debate about this. The view was, effectively, that a double jeopardy situation needed to be avoided. If people want to go down a legal route, they should do so. If they want an apology or correction and they want it fast, they should go to the Press Council. That was also one of the reasons for the establishment of a tight timeline. If your reputation has been damaged, you want to get it addressed as quickly as possible. If you are out for the money, to use a colloquialism, you go to the courts. Once you go down the road of money, there are solicitors. I have nothing against solicitors, but the reality is that it would turn it into a quasi-legal process, establish a different and more elaborate structure and would probably end up in judicial review territory. Others may have a different view, but that is my memory of the debate at the time.