Fine Gael TD "astonished" that his party colleague sued for defamation

A Fine Gael representative will say that he was "astonished" that a member of his party and Senator Paudie Coffey is suing for defamation of a newspaper article, a jury in the High Court said.

Rossa Fanning SC said it would be part of Fine Gael's testimony to John Paul Phelan in Senator Coffey's continued action on the January 2016 article in Kilkenny People.

Senator Coffey claims that the article was the main factor in the loss of its seat in Waterford Dáil.

He sued the editors of the newspaper Iconic Newspapers about an article textually reporting a press release from Mr. Phelan describing the proposal to introduce a portion of Kilkenny into the Waterford election area as a " daylighting ". Mr. Phelan stated that there was an 18th century "bloodthirsty man" in Waterford called "Crotty the Robber" and that "Coffey the Robber" was trying to do the same thing.

Senator Coffey says it was defamatory and the publisher denies it.

On Tuesday, during his cross-examination by Mr. Fanning SC, his third day before Iconic Newspapers, his counsel explained to him that the language used in the article was a colorful comment in the context of others. Newspaper articles citing color comments from local politicians about the border between Waterford and Kilkenny. problem.

Senator Coffey said that other comments were part of the political debate, but Kilkenny People's article was much more specific and alluded to a form of professional misconduct on his part as Deputy Minister of the United States. Environment at the time.

He defamed himself and his family and was released without giving him the opportunity to respond before it was released, he said.

The lawyer stated that he was not the first politician to be compared to fictional or historical characters.

"Bull McCabe"

He said that the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was nicknamed "Vlad" in the Phoenix magazine and that there was also the politician from Roscommon County, Luke "Ming" Flanagan, and the former minister of Justice, John O 'Donoghue, known as "Bull McCabe" after the central character. in John B Keane's play, The Field.

None of these politicians had sued, said the lawyer.

Senator Coffey replied that no one was called a thief.

The lawyer suggested that this was "part of the rigors of politics" and, when MP Phelan testifies, he will tell the jury that he is "surprised that we are here".

Senator Coffey said that he has been in politics for 20 years, going through good and bad times.

"And never in my life have I known the type of title in this article published at a vulnerable moment in my career."

Mr. Fanning explained to him that he had given a completely different public explanation last month to the loss of his seat in Dáil when he told the London Times that this was due to the controversy over a laboratory of catheterization at the University Hospital of Waterford.

Senator Coffey said that the laboratory problem contributed to the loss of its seat, as well as the controversy surrounding water taxes, but that the "main factor" was Kilkenny People's article. .

He admitted that Fine Gael's vote had dropped by 10% in 2011 at the national and local levels in Waterford as of 2011. He also acknowledged that he was disadvantaged by the fact that Fianna Fáil's successful candidate Waterford, Mary Butler, came from her own region, Portlaw. .

Earlier, he had stated that he was "factually correct" in the comments he had made during an interview on local radio about the review by the commission delimitation of borders several months before Kilkenny People's Article.

He did not agree, he gave the impression at the interview that he was responsible for the examination.

The case continues.