A libel case brought by an English journalist based in west Cork against five newspapers opens in Cork Circuit Court this morning.
The case relates to the murder, on December 23rd, 1996, of Frenchwoman Ms Sophie Toscan du Plantier, and the journalist who wrote about it but later became a suspect.
However, no-one was ever charged with her killing.
Mr Ian Bailey, of Prairie, Schull, in west Cork, is suing the Irish Mirror, the Star, the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Independentand the Independent on Sundayfor bringing him "into public odium and contempt", claiming he suffered loss and damages due to articles about him published in these newspapers.
Ms Toscan du Plantier, the wife of a prominent French film producer, Mr Daniel Toscan du Plantier, had arrived in Ireland on December 20th, 1996, to spend Christmas in her holiday home near Schull.
