James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I will move to the next speaker but there will be plenty of chances to contribute. I am trying to give everyone similar time. That discussion reminded me of a case, Nolan's tavern, where a barman reprimanded an individual. Senator Ward is saying he acted in that case, so we have better experts in it than me. The rationale of the case was that the greater the exertion that was given to the accusation by the barman in that case - it could be a shopkeeper - the less qualified the privilege it attracted. The same as malice destroys qualified privilege, so too may an overenthusiastic reprimand or check. It is in degrees. I do not know to what extent that is followed. Like Senator Ward, I have attempted to argue that unsuccessfully in the past.