An RTÉ reporter has told a judge he was slandered by the Garda Reviewmagazine which, he claimed, held him up to be an irresponsible journalist.
The station's crime correspondent, Paul Reynolds, claimed he was defamed in the magazine six years ago after exclusively breaking a story about the arrest and questioning of a garda in relation to an alleged rape of a woman on the holiday island of Tenerife.
The Garda Reviewis the official magazine of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents rank-and-file gardaí.
Mr Reynolds has sued the magazine and PJ Stone, general secretary of the GRA, author of an editorial in the magazine.
Counsel for Mr Reynolds, Luan Ó Braonáin SC, said the editorial held his client out to be an irresponsible journalist who, motivated by malice or bias, had set out to portray members of the force in a particularly unfavourable light.
Mr Ó Braonáin said the RTÉ correspondent's report had outlined how a 26-year-old garda who had been on holiday with his girlfriend in Tenerife had been arrested and questioned by Spanish police about the alleged assault and rape of a woman in the Las Americas area.
Mr Reynolds had reported that it was understood the man had had a lot to drink and had been put out of a pub twice. An Irishwoman who had been part of the group had subsequently complained she had been raped.
The report had quoted a statement from Garda headquarters confirming that a garda had been detained in Tenerife and that he was attached to a station in north Co Dublin but originally came from a border county.
The woman, from the northwest of Ireland, had suffered severe facial injuries including a suspected broken nose and broken jaw.
The court heard that the particular garda who had been detained and questioned had subsequently been proved to have been innocent of any assault or rape.
Mr Reynolds told Circuit Court President Mr Justice Matthew Deery that he had demanded an apology from the Garda Reviewto clear his name and character and had only ever asked for a contribution of €1,000 to be made to the Garda Benevolent Fund as a gesture from the magazine.
He said the editorial, written by Mr Stone, had stated Mr Reynolds had presented the alleged rape of the woman and the questioning of the garda in a manner which delivered a fait accompli version to the nation of the garda's guilt.
Mr Reynolds told Hugh Mohan SC, counsel for Mr Stone and the Garda Review, he had been shocked when the editorial had been brought to his attention. Other news media had followed up his report with lurid detail which had ended up in drugs having been brought into the equation.
He said it was imperative to his job that he be trusted by members of the public and all members of the Garda Síochána many of whom had in confidence or otherwise either tipped him off or officially assisted him in his work. The case continues today.