Discovery V Public Interest Privilege ' Scales Of Justice Tipped In Favour Of Discovery

• Published date: 16 November 2021
• Law Firm: William Fry
• Author: Mr Derek Hegarty, Laura Murdock and Adele Hall

Lynda Meegan v Times Newspapers Limited t/a The Sunday Times[2021] IEHC 495

Background

The case arose out of defamation proceedings initiated on foot of an article published in the Sunday Times in September 2014 (Proceedings). The article was titled "Convicted bomb-maker was recipient of garda intelligence". The article outlined that a former member of An Garda Síoch'na (AGS) provided a "convicted bomb-maker" with sensitive intelligence relating to Garda operations against dissident republicans. The article also stated that "the officer, who cannot be named, resigned after being confronted".

Ms Meegan (Plaintiff) instituted the Proceedings, alleging that she was the member of AGS referenced in the article. She claimed the allegations were false and that the article incorrectly inferred that she had to resign as a Garda because she disclosed information likely to be of use to terrorists.

The Sunday Times (Defendant) denied defamation and raised a fair and reasonable publication defence under...