It has been confirmed that current affairs magazine, Village, will be on sale from tomorrow after its publication was deferred yesterday because of what it said was a threat of legal action from consumer expert, Eddie Hobbs.
Current affairs magazine, Villagewill be on sale tomorrow following a 24-hour delay in publication due to the threat of legal action from consumer expert, Eddie Hobbs.
Mr Hobbs is at the centre of a political storm over his RTÉ TV series Rip-Off Ireland, which the Government claims is overtly political and contains inaccurate information in its expose of overpricing in Ireland.
The magazine is publishing an detailed article on Mr Hobbs work as a financial adviser while with the Taylor Investment group in 1993 and 1994. He was a director the company when it went bust in 1996 owing millions to some of its clients. Mr Taylor was later jailed for fraud.
It was confirmed this evening the distributor of the magazine, Newspread, had sought independent senior council advice before clearing the editorial material for publication. It is understood that the Villagemade amendments to its report after the legal advice.
In a statement the publication said: "We in Village are happy that what we publish is fair to Eddie Hobbs and incorporates the representations made by him and solicitors, without us having to withhold any of the information we have wanted to publish.
We were determined not to succumb in the face of legal threats. Village will be one year old in two weeks time (this is issue 50) and we plan to go on publishing information of public interest irrespective of the opposition. "
Mr Hobbs, is a financial adviser and presenter of consumer programmes on television. He is a former chief executive of the and is a board member of the recently formed National Consumer Agency.
Government ministers and the Taoiseach have attacked Rip-Off Ireland, and it has been reported that the programme has soured relations between the Government and RTÉ.
The four-part series in which Mr Hobbs adopts an irreverent style in examining the cost of goods and services contains figures disputed by the Government.
The chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, is considering summoning Mr Hobbs and RTÉ director general Cathal Goan to appear and answer questions about the series.
Mr Hobbs says his figures were independently researched but based on official figures from State agencies .