Opening the case for Mr Murphy, Mr Eamon Leahy SC said the jury would be satisfied the damage done to his client by the Sunday Times article of June 30th 1985 was the grossest done by any newspaper article to any person in the country. He read the article, which dealt with an IRA campaign to bomb seaside resorts in Britain, to the jury. It was headlined "Portrait of a check-in terrorist". Underneath the headline, in bold, were the words: "Last week, the police announced that they had discovered an IRA plan to plant bombs in 12 seaside resorts. They detained over a score of people and appeared to have destroyed one of the Provisional IRA's active service units. But the triumph has a dark side; there are more of these units. How are they created and how are they destroyed. A report by Andrew Hogg, Barrie Penrose and Chris Ryder."
The article included the words: "In Ireland itself the planning of mainland campaigns is surrounded now by a more tightly-knit security. The IRA's army council last February appointed a farmer in the Republic, called `Slab' Murphy (which is not his real name) to be its operations commander for the whole of Northern Ireland. He has no convictions for terrorist activities and this, plus the fact that he is on the other side of the Border, makes him a security headache hard to cure."
The article continued: "Murphy is likely to have sanctioned certain key Provisionals travelling to Britain to take part in this summer's planned bombing campaign. It would have been a task made easier to keep secret by the fact that his farm is close to the small town where IRA men on the run can gain sanctuary in `safe' houses."
Mr Leahy said his client was born in north Louth, very close to the Border, and now lives close to his childhood home at Ballybinaby, Hackballscross. There were many families called Murphy in the area and different nicknames were given to many families. Mr Murphy's father was known as "Slab" Murphy and the nickname had continued on to his sons. Mr Murphy was known as "Slab" Murphy and that name had become notorious after publication of the article, counsel said.
There was no doubt the words in the article meant, and were intended to mean, that Thomas Murphy was a prominent figure in the IRA and that he sought, planned, sanctioned and aimed to cause indiscriminate slaughter at 12 seaside resorts in Britain.
Mr Murphy would tell the court of the effect of the article and that there was no truth whatsoever in it, counsel said. No charge of IRA membership had ever been levied against his client. He said Mr Murphy would at this stage give limited evidence and would resume his evidence later. In his evidence, Mr Murphy said he was shown the Sunday Times of June 30th, 1985, on that day and was "totally devastated". He understood the article referred to him. People had spoken to him about it in the following days, including a local milkman.
Cross-examined by Mr Paul Gallagher SC, for the defence, Mr Murphy said it was possible that a solicitor's letter about the article was not received by the Sunday Times until June 1987. He said he had consulted solicitors immediately after the article was published.
It did cross his mind that the article could refer to other members of his family. There were quite a few Thomas Murphys in the area and some of those had nicknames. He said his business was farming and he had no other business. In 1985 he would not have been known other than as Thomas or Slab Murphy, he said. He would not have used any other name at any stage. Asked was he known as The General, he smiled and said "No". Mr Bernard Finnegan said he was a milkman who worked in the Hackballscross area. He had known Mr Murphy for some 30 years, knew him as Slab Murphy, and was involved with him in a GAA club.
He read the article of June 30th, 1985, and thought it referred to Mr Murphy. He spoke with Mr Murphy the following day and referred to the article. He said Mr Murphy had seen it. Mr Finnegan said he was shocked by the article and so was Mr Murphy.
Answering Mr Kevin Feeney SC, for the defence, Mr Finnegan said he knew Thomas Murphy well but did not know his brothers as well. He presumed the article referred to Thomas and agreed it could only refer to one brother. Mr Feeney then opened the case for the Sunday Times. The case was about the reputation of Thomas Murphy, he said. The Sunday Times says the article is true. If the sting of the article was true, the newspaper succeeded in its defence. Mr Murphy was entitled to damages if the jury decided he was not actually in the IRA or supported it.
Mr Feeney said he would call evidence to show Mr Murphy was a prominent member of the IRA, that he held a false passport for "in and out" trips to Greece and that that passport was one of a batch of 100 stolen from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Some of those stolen passports were subsequently found on people who were convicted of IRA-related offences, he said. Those people included persons convicted in connection with the seaside bombing campaign. Counsel said there would be further evidence that a garda had stopped Mr Murphy on one occasion and the plaintiff had produced a driving licence in the name of Joseph Murphy.
He said Sean O'Callaghan, a former member of the IRA who had informed on its activities for several years from 1979 to 1985, would give evidence that Mr Murphy was a member of the IRA in 1983 and 1985.
Counsel said gardai had seized a passport from Thomas Murphy's family home during a search on June 26th, 1989. The passport was in the name of another man but the photograph was that of Mr Murphy. The jury would be satisfied it was a false and forged passport.