The former Irish rugby coach, Mr Mick Doyle, was "incensed and distressed" over a Sunday Independent article which stated that, within two seasons of winning a Triple Crown in 1985, he had become ostracised by the decision-making core among the players, the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for Mr Doyle, was opening libel proceedings taken by Mr Doyle over the article, which was published on February 13th, 2000. The action is against Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd; the Sunday Independent editor, Aengus Fanning; and a rugby journalist, Brendan Fanning, who wrote the article.
The defence admit they published the words concerning Mr Doyle as part of a larger article but deny they did so falsely or maliciously. They also plead the words complained of were true in substance and were fair comment on a matter of public interest.
Mr Doyle (61), a veterinary surgeon, of Sherlockstown, Sallins, Co Kildare, is a former Irish international rugby player and was coach to the Irish team for the years 1984-1987. He is a native of Co Kerry.
It is claimed that the article, by way of "Questions and Answers" posed by Mr Fanning, was published in the aftermath of a humiliating defeat inflicted on the Irish team by England on February 5th, 2000.
One passage in the article posed the question: "That doesn't explain how Warren Gatland has had professional players at his disposal for two seasons and has done nothing with them. So why not sack him?"
The answer was: "By all means show Warren Gatland the door, but do so in the knowledge that there is no reason to believe his successor will alter the trend of the last two decades.
"If you want to look at the track records, then Mick Doyle, who was Ireland's most successful coach of that period, couldn't manage to break even. And within two seasons of winning a Triple Crown in 1985 he had become ostracised by the decision-making core among the players. Nobody was making a realistic case for him to stay."
Mr Doyle claims the words were defamatory of him and that they meant he was shunned by members of the Irish team during his tenure as coach.
The defence, in its particulars, pleads that by the latter part of his tenure, senior squad players had lost confidence in Mr Doyle and he was ostracised by them. It pleads that, prior to the match against Scotland in 1986, Mr Doyle was asked to leave the team's dressing room.
Mr Cooney told the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, and a jury that Mr Doyle had played for Ireland in 20 consecutive matches. In 1983 he became Irish coach and received no payment for that.
Counsel said Mr Doyle was never ostracised by any player he coached. As an amateur, he had devoted days, weeks and months to the Irish team and believed he had had quite a successful period as coach.
Solicitors for Mr Doyle wrote to the newspaper complaining about the article. Solicitors for the newspaper wrote saying they did not accept Mr Doyle's complaints. A chart published with the article suggested Mr Doyle's success record as coach was 44 per cent. The reality was that, when he was Irish coach, the team played 21 matches, won 11, drew one and lost nine. The success rate was 53-55 per cent.
In evidence, Mr Doyle said his first season as coach, 1984-85, was very successful, and Ireland won the Triple Crown. The following year the results were not the same, but the feeling was exactly the same as the previous year. They were "all one family." There was a full democratic set-up: 1987 was a fantastic year.
At the end of the 1987 season the World Cup was coming up. His business company was not going too well, and rugby was eating into his business. He was committed to going to the World Cup in Australia/New Zealand with the Irish team. He got a heart attack in Auckland and was in coronary care for a couple days. His condition did not develop. He retired after the match there.
Mr Doyle said that his job as a veterinary consultant had almost disappeared while he was coaching Ireland. He started over again and built up a veterinary products company. He wrote for the Evening Herald for two years and then for the Sunday Independent.
He got a brain haemhorrage in 1996 and started to write again in 1997.
He would say he was different from previous coaches. He was more "one of the players" than any previous coaches.
Asked by Mr Declan Doyle SC, also for the plaintiff, about the statement that he was ostracised, he said he still did not know what the writer was talking about. There was no decision-making core in the team. The players decided with him what they would do.
When he read the article, it gave him "incredible hurt." To say he was ostracised meant he was ignored completely, did not count and was irrelevant.
Mr Doyle told the court of the preparations for the Scotland match in Dublin in 1986 and said he was never asked to leave the team's dressing room.
Cross-examined by Mr Eoin McCullough SC, for the defence, Mr Doyle said that, when writing for the Sunday Independent, he was paid for all the time he was out sick.
He was sure there were hurtful things about people in his articles. He was writing about players and officials he knew. He knew a lot about what was happening. He criticised players for not playing and was also critical of managers and administrators.
The hearing continues today.