A newspaper article which referred to an unnamed journalist as "one particularly scurvy little pup" libelled a sports journalist, Mr Cathal Dervan, it was claimed at the High Court yesterday.
Mr Dervan (35) claims he was "staggered" by the article by Mr Eamon Dunphy in the Sunday In- dependent of March 10th, 1996.
In an action before Mr Justice Peter Kelly and a jury, Mr Dervan, a founder of the Title newspaper and now sports editor of Ireland on Sunday, is suing Independent Newspapers, Mr Dunphy and Sunday Independent editor Mr Aengus Fanning. The defendants deny the claims.
It is claimed the article meant and was understood to mean Mr Dervan had engaged in a deliberate, wrong and unfair campaign against Mr Louis Kilcoyne (who had resigned as president of the Football Association of Ireland shortly before the publication); had not abided by the ethical standards of journalism and had deliberately misled the public in connection with the controversy surrounding the subject matter of the article.
The defendants admit that some, although not all, of the words complained of referred to and were understood to refer to Mr Dervan but deny the words bore, were understood to bear or were capable of bearing the meanings alleged.
Alternatively, the defendants plead the words complained of were fair comment on a matter of public interest, namely the affairs of the FAI.
Mr Jack Fitzgerald SC, for Mr Dervan, said the background to the article was that there had been trouble at the FAI over international tickets. Public discussion grew up and comment was made in the media.
A late-night meeting of the 51member FAI council dealt with motions of confidence or no confidence in Mr Kilcoyne and the honorary treasurer, Mr Joe Delaney. Mr Delaney resigned in the course of the meeting and Mr Kilcoyne resigned after a vote was taken. Mr Fitzgerald read the lengthy article which appeared on the Sunday following the meeting. He said Mr Dervan was not named in it but was clearly identified. The defendants agreed he was identified and was the man concerned.
After the publication, solicitors for Mr Dervan wrote to the Sunday Independent stating the article had said: "Louis' was the head the gutter press wanted . . . Louis departed like the honourable man he is . . . One particularly scurvy little pup - a media nonentity - can boast of felling Mr President. RTE, Morning Ireland and Prime Time, in particular, offered this journalistic low-life a platform."
The solicitor's letter called for an apology, for statements defamatory of Mr Dervan to be retracted and for him to be compensated for the injury to his good name, character and business.
The Sunday Independent's solicitors replied, stating the newspaper took the view the article represented fair comment on a matter of public interest. It also gave Mr Dervan a right of reply to any aspect of the article, subject to the usual editorial constraints, but there was no question of an apology or compensation. Counsel said the jury would have to decide whether remarks that Mr Dervan was a "low life", "scurvy little pup" and a disgrace to his profession represented fair comment. The article was saying that as a journalist, he was scum and vermin, was engaged in lies and innuendo as a journalist and was a nonentity and a disgrace.
In evidence, Mr Dervan said he had been approached by and commented a number of times on RTE radio and television about the FAI ticket controversy. There had been a number of FAI meetings prior to that of March 8th, 1996 and an FAI press conference the previous week, where allegations against the FAI were denied. A number of FAI officials resigned. There were two members of the management committee left - Mr Kilcoyne and Mr Delaney. Once others had resigned, Mr Dervan said he expressed the opinion Mr Kilcoyne should follow suit and leave himself open for re-election once the FAI so decided.
When he saw the article, he was staggered at the viciousness of the attack on him personally. "I was clearly identified as the main culprit in this," he said.
He said he had been on Morning Ireland and Prime Time regarding the FAI situation and was the only journalist to appear on those programmes. Mr Dervan said he cared absolutely and passionately about football. He had reported accurately and fairly on the events in the FAI prior to the departure of Mr Kilcoyne and Mr Delaney.
On reading the article, he felt very low on seeing words like "vicious little scum" and "liar" and the allegation that he had been involved in a vendetta against an innocent man.
Cross-examined by Mr Kevin Feeney SC, for the defence, Mr Dervan said he did not contact Mr Kilcoyne before going on Morning Ireland or at any stage in relation to the "Merriongate affair" but had spoken to him at press conferences. He had never suggested Mr Kilcoyne was involved in any financial wrongdoing.
During the RTE interview, he said he recalled mentioning KRAM, the organisation dedicated to keeping Shamrock Rovers at their Milltown home, and mentioned there now appeared to be a new organisation, KLAMS, one aimed at keeping Louis at Merrion Square.
He agreed there was no such organisation and said the remark was intended as a humorous one.
Mr Dervan agreed he mentioned Mr Dunphy as Mr Kilcoyne's "cohort" and said when he referred to the balance of power within the FAI shifting from Merrion Square to the Horseshoe Bar in the Shelbourne Hotel, he was referring to FAI members who drank there, such as Mr Kilcoyne and Mr Dunphy.
In criticising how the allocation of World Cup tickets was handled, he was not criticising people like Mr Kilcoyne but was suggesting that the FAI as a body was dishonest, he said. He accepted Mr Kilcoyne was totally honest and had not received any personal gain from sale of tickets. Mr Dervan denied his comments on the RTE programme would have left anyone with the impression that he had done a "hatchet job" on Mr Kilcoyne.
The hearing continues on Tuesday.