An appeal by the Sunday Times of one aspect of the verdict in the Albert Reynolds libel trial opens in the House of Lords in London today.
Mr Reynolds is now in his third year of legal battle with the Sunday Times. The case to be heard today is seen as raising issues of press freedom.
In November 1996 the High Court in London found that Mr Reynolds was libelled by the newspaper in its coverage of events surrounding the collapse of the Fianna Fail/Labour coalition two years earlier. An article was published in the English, Scottish and Welsh editions of the paper (but not the Irish), under the title, "Goodbye Gombeen Man".
The Sunday Times defended the article on two grounds: that it was justified by the facts, and that, because it dealt with matters of public interest and political controversy, it was covered by qualified privilege.
Although the jury found against the paper on the issue of justification, it found that there was no malice in the coverage and that it had accurately reported the reasons for Mr Dick Spring leaving the Government.
It awarded Mr Reynolds nil damages, later amended to the nominal sum of one penny. The judge, Mr Justice French, then ruled on the legal question of qualified privilege, and found against the Sunday Times. Today's appeal is on that issue.