Actress Alison Doody is to receive undisclosed damages from the Irish Mirror in settlement of her libel action against the newspaper, the High Court was told yesterday. An apology from the newspaper was also read in court.
She brought her action as Alison O'Reilly (nee Doody) against MGN Ltd, Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd and Mirror Colour Print Ltd over an article which was published in the Irish Mirror on January 15th, 1999.
A jury was sworn to hear the action yesterday but, following discussions between lawyers for both sides, Mr Justice Kearns was told it had been settled.
Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for Ms Doody, said the sides had engaged in negotiations and he was happy to tell the court they had been successfully completed. Mr Edward Walsh SC, defending, then read an apology in court.
It stated: "In our edition of January 15th 1999, we published a story suggesting that Alison Doody, the well-known Irish film actress, had appeared nude and partially nude in her film roles.
"This story was quite untrue. Ms Doody has never appeared nude or partially nude in the many films in which she has acted. In fact, we acknowledge that it is well known that throughout her career she has adamantly refused to participate in scenes involving nudity and that this refusal has caused her the loss of many lucrative roles. We further acknowledge that this is a matter of deep personal principle for her to which she has always adhered.
"We accept that the publication of this false story has caused great personal distress to Ms Doody and damaged her reputation. We apologise for this and as a mark of the sincerity of this apology we wish it to be known that we have paid damages to Ms Doody. Furthermore, we have undertaken not to repeat this or similar allegations about her again."
Ms Doody, accompanied by her husband, Mr Gavin O'Reilly, son of Independent Newspapers chief Dr Tony O'Reilly, was in court to hear the apology.