The affairs of the former Dublin county manager Mr George Redmond have been the subject of an "orgy of coverage" by the media, the High Court heard today.
Mr Redmond is seeking to halt his trial on corruption charges because he claims he cannot get a fair trial at the moment because of extensive adverse publicity about his affairs. He did not appear in court today.
Mr Paddy McEntee SC, said his client Mr Redmond "has become the standard of how you measure things and that's what people are going to bring into the jury box, and you can't shed that."
He described an "orgy" of media coverage, "blanket coverage, blanket comment, derisory material, and gossip".
Earlier Mr Justice Kearns requested the media not to report on the content of newspaper articles, broadcast reports and books referring to Mr Redmond that are read out in court.
Mr Redmond's lawyers supplied Mr Justice Kearns with a file of documents taken from newspapers, a book and radio reports that they claim show he cannot be tried by an impartial jury at this time.
Mr McEntee asked Mr Justice Kearns to make an order preventing the publication of any press or book material that was read out in court until the trial, appeal or any possible retrial had been disposed of.
"Some of the material suggests that Mr Redmond is an irredeemable rogue and that he is up to his neck in all sorts of things," Mr McEntee told the court.
The order was not granted. Instead, Mr Justice Kearns requested the media not to repeat any material in the submissions of Mr McEntee.
Articles by Irish Timesjournalist Mr Paul Cullen former Sunday Business Post journalist Mr Frank Connolly and an article by Phoenix magazine were cited in court by Mr McEntee as being potentially prejudicial to Mr Redmond's trial for corruption.
Articles written by Mr Michael McDowell when he was Attorney General, and Mr Pat Rabbitte of the Labour Party were also mentioned.
Earlier, Mr Justice Kearns rose to read Chapter 3 of With a Little Help From My Friends, written by Mr Cullen, after a request by counsel Mr McEntee.
Mr McEntee told the court this morning: "The book is important because it is a recent publication, because of its content and because of its form.
"Paul Cullen's book is reaching a new audience, it will probably be in libraries and probably in people's homes. It will have a great deal of impact in time," he said.
If his application is refused, Mr Redmond's trial on four charges of corruptly receiving bribes while working as the county manager in the 1980s is likely to go ahead later in the year.
The case has been adjourned till tomorrow.