A LIMERICK city and county councillor has condemned the “deafening silence” of An Taoiseach Enda Kenny over the recent Denis O’Brien media saga saying that “it is noteworthy last week that one of our local Fine Gael TDs was sent out to trumpet the sale of Aer Lingus ever before the sale was debated in the Dail, yet the majority of the Fine Gael TD’s were conspicuously silent when there was a direct attempts to muzzle the Dail.”
Independent Councillor and barrister Emmett O’Brien said that he has welcomed the clarification this week by the High Court that it never intended to, nor could not, restrain TDs from making statements in the Dail or restrict the fair and accurate reporting by the Irish media of such statements.
“Had the High Court not clarified what seemed an obvious principle would be to turn Ireland into a mini “Putinland” by Denis O’Brien and his legal team in restricting the constitutionally guarded protection of absolute privilege of our Dail.
“This constitutional privilege afforded to us citizens through our TD’s is not a ‘fancy argument’ as it affords each and every constituent in Limerick the protection that our voice supersedes the dictates of the powerful or malign and our public representatives and the media can air matters of public importance without fear or favour”, he added.
The unnecessary confusion generated by the application of Denis O’Brien’s legal team to restrict the reporting by the State’s media into matters that are of distinct public importance was “a highly unattractive attempt to blur the very rigid lines as set out in our Constitution and attempt to supersede the private rights of the powerful over the common good of us citizens”, concluded the Limerick barrister.
