Couple seek directory ban on chatlines

The High Court is to be asked tomorrow to ban the publication of sex phone lines in the next issue of the Golden Pages, currently…

The High Court is to be asked tomorrow to ban the publication of sex phone lines in the next issue of the Golden Pages, currently ready to go to print.

The action is being taken by Mr Patrick O'Connor, a company director of a quarry supplies firm in Straffan, Co Kildare, and his partner, Ms Anne Ryan, who is also suing on behalf of her two children.

The O'Connor-Ryan family is suing Eircom, The Golden Pages Ltd, the Censorship of Publications Board and Ireland on the grounds that a number of pages supplying information services are "indecent".

The applicants were granted High Court approval by Mr Justice Lavin to serve short notice of their intentions on the defendants.

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The O'Connor-Ryans claim the premium rate chatlines, which can cost up to a £1 a minute, offend the Indecent Advertisement Act, 1889.