The rights of citizens were being eroded by some sections of the media and the Oireachtas would have to be courageous in addressing this problem, the leader of the Seanad, Mr Donie Cassidy, said. The jumping to conclusions before cases were heard in court had to be viewed with concern, he said.
Mr Cassidy undertook to arrange urgently a debate on the issue, with the Minister for Justice being present. He was responding to concerns voiced by members on the Government and Opposition sides.
Mr Maurice Manning, the Fine Gael leader in the Seanad, said a contributor to a seminar on the media and libel laws this week had said the State's laws were more Draconian than those in Eastern Europe during the worst days of the Cold War.
"Well, be that as it may, I would also like to draw attention to the fact that this very morning one criminal case can't go ahead because of the antics of the newspapers yesterday. The know the law. They know they transgressed it, in that they made it very likely that the trial would not go ahead, and I think they have a very strong case to answer.
"Also, today, we have the Irish Examiner declaring a man as having committed suicide before a post-mortem is held, before the inquest has been held. "I think when there is a cry for libel law reform from the media, then we would certainly be prepared to engage in a debate with them; but we would draw to their attention the excesses which make it very difficult to have any serious discussion about meaningful libel law reform," Mr Manning said.
Mr David Norris (Ind) said a newspaper on Thursday had printed a photograph, the name, occupation and practically the full address of an accused person.
"I think it's quite wrong. This constitutes a form of punishment before a decision has been made about guilt. I don't think it's acceptable and I believe there should be an amendment to the law to make it illegal for newspapers to publish these kinds of details."
Mr Michael Lanigan said this was a small country and the difficulties an accused's family or relations could encounter had to be taken into account before a quarter of a page of a newspaper was taken up by somebody who was accused of something.
Mr Jim Glennon (FF) said it was time there was a press council in this country. For far too long we have had a situation of reporters hiding behind sub-editors, hiding behind editors. There appeared to be no responsibility.