The Supreme Court has limited the Garda material which must be disclosed in a defamation action brought by John McDonald against RTÉ following broadcasts about the 1991 murder of Cooley farmer Thomas Oliver.
Mr McDonald sued over the radio programme “Death of a Farmer”, first broadcast in April 1992. He was not named in the programme but claimed comments by Fr Denis Faul referred to his earlier arrest near a Garda arms find and implied that he was a Provisional IRA member involved in Mr Oliver’s murder. Mr McDonald denied those allegations.
He had been arrested with others at Castlecarragh, Riverstown, Dundalk, in October 1989 on suspicion of firearms possession. They were released after 48 hours and no charges were brought.
RTÉ later amended its defence to plead justification. Mr McDonald then sought discovery from Garda notice parties of material in his arrest file and the separate investigation file concerning Mr Oliver’s abduction and murder.
The central issue on appeal was whether Gardaí had lost public interest privilege by consulting RTÉ’s lawyers at the Four Courts before the planned trial in May 1995. Mr McDonald argued that detailed new particulars served by RTÉ showed that Garda material must have been disclosed.
Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness rejected that contention. The evidence supported the High Court’s finding that Gardaí had not handed over the files or read their contents at dictation speed. Garda officers attending under subpoena could discuss events within their own knowledge without thereby waiving privilege.
The Supreme Court then inspected the disputed files itself. It upheld disclosure of specified Garda statements and correspondence from the McDonald arrest file, with other names removed.
From the Oliver murder file, it directed disclosure of an account of Mr McDonald’s movements, a memorandum concerning an IRA admission and a newspaper report of the inquest. The remaining material was not to be produced because it was irrelevant or because disclosure could damage the continuing criminal investigation.