David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I notice that the Press Council has been complaining about defamation and the cost to the press of libel actions. I disagree with it completely. I put down legislation previously, which has dropped off the Order Paper, as did the Government. I would welcome the introduction of such legislation at this point. A previous Defamation Bill was put forward in the House at the instigation of the press barons but I managed to derail it by way of a series of well-argued amendments. One of the reasons I feel strongly about this was because of the last presidential election after which I took ten libel actions. Among the things that were said about me were that I was an alcoholic, blind, a pension and social welfare cheat, had sex with my students in Trinity and advocated parents having sex with their own children. These were unspeakable, downright lies. I accept that a person in public life should be subject to greater scrutiny, which contention is perfectly correct. However, the same level of truthfulness should obtain whether the subject is a private person or a person in public life. If one tells lies about someone, one is taking a risk and should be prepared to pay the cost.

I put a notice about this on my website and drew the attention of the press to it but there was, unsurprisingly, no response. When I challenged one of them, I was told there was an issue of libel. How laughable can one get? I did not mention names although I could have, having won every single one of those ten libel actions. My name is now justified, or would properly be so had the newspapers printed proper and prominent apologies. However, it has all gone up into the cloud so my reputation can never be completely cleansed. I reiterate that I won ten libel actions and, having been bankrupted by the presidential election, now have two very healthy bank accounts.