BROADCASTER Marian Finucane began a libel action in the High Court yesterday and said she had not acted secretively when buying one of the Mespil flats in Dublin in 1993.
She is taking the action against the Sunday Independent. She told Mr Justice Kinlen and a jury that she bought the flat in her own name and would have explained that had she been contacted.
Ms Finucane (46) has brought her action arising out of articles on May 16th, 1993. One was under the heading "All above board and all above the heads of the little people" and the other was in the television review section with the heading "The butt end of the deal".
It is claimed the articles meant and were intended to mean that she was a person motivated by greed, had acted in a dishonest manner, was motivated by avarice and was a member of a "mob" engaged in an enterprise whose characteristics were grubbiness and greed.
The defence admits it published the articles but denies they were false or malicious. It denies the words complained of bore or were understood to bear or were capable of bearing the meanings claimed or any meaning defamatory of Ms Finucane.
It is pleaded that they were fair comment on a matter of public interest, namely Irish Life's disposal of the Mespil flats. It is also denied that Ms Finucane suffered the alleged or any hurt or distress as alleged or at all.
Mr Adrian Hardiman SC, for Ms Finucane, said his client and her husband were approached by a former journalist, Mr James Morrissey, on behalf of New City Estates, and invited to consider investing in an apartment at the Mespil Road complex.
The articles were published without any contact being made with Ms Finucane. When a complaint was made to the newspaper, she received no reply.
The article began "Before she was jailed, the fallen tycoon of New York, Leona Helmsley, guaranteed herself a place in any dictionary of contemporary quotations with the remark that only the little people pay taxes" ...
"There was an element of contempt, too, for the `little people' of Ireland, who are subject to the full price rigours of the property market, in the secret selling and buying of the Mespil Road apartments."
"The analogy ends there because the canny investors in Dublin 4's flat land, who knew a bargain basement when it was thrust upon them, were acting strictly within the letter and the spirit of the law."
The lengthy article went on to make a number of references to the Mespil flats and purchasers.
Later it stated "Thus you had Marian Finucane, so glad that she could deal fairly and in the open with her sitting tenant whom she found out about in the media while bemoaning the fate of another investor who had a tenant free flat and therefore had no way of publicly purging himself (of what?)."
In the television column on the same date, there was reference to a programme about the Mespil flats. It was stated that it emerged from the programme that the consortium gave Irish Life the names of people who would buy.
Mr Hardiman said Ms Finucane had nothing to do, directly or indirectly, with inducing Irish Life to sell the flats.
On the day Ms Finucane read the article she was "paralysed" and felt insulted. She had got through the last three years by telling people who had inquired exactly what the truth was.
In evidence, Ms Finucane said she lived at Punchestown Upper, Rathmore, Co Kildare, with her husband, Mr John Clarke, a farmer, and son, Jack (9). She was not employed by RTE but was self employed on contract.
She had not made financial provision for her retirement and discussed it with advisers. In 1992 her husband mentioned to her that Mr Morrissey had talked to him about one of the Mespil flats. She wanted time to think about it. She did not know who had bought the other flats until she read about them in the newspapers.
She was amazed when she saw some of the other so called prominent people.
The cost of the apartment was £44,000 and with other items it came to £48,000. She borrowed £42,000 from First National Building Society. She bought the flat to be for her pension specifically.
Her husband approached the tenant, Mr Earnan de Blaghd, a barrister, to find out how he might feel about it. They would not have bought the apartment if the tenant had objected.
On May 9th, 1993, the Sunday Mirror and People carried articles. She was interviewed on Morning Ireland two days later. On the Monday she discussed the situation with a caller to her own programme and the following day the Star reported what she had said, to the effect that she had contacted the tenant before purchasing.
The hearing continues today.