Berry affair: The prospect of bailiffs seizing furniture from the home of a senior civil servant in lieu of more than £6,000 in legal costs was averted when, after considerable delay, the Department of Finance authorised payment from State funds.
The case involved the late Peter Berry, former Secretary of the Department of Justice and de facto head of State security for decades, who sued The Irish Times and the now-defunct Irish Press for libel and defamation.
Confidential correspondence released under the 30-year rule in the National Archives shows that, when Berry decided to take legal proceedings against the two newspapers, as well as RTÉ, he was given an indemnity by the Fianna Fáil government of the day against legal costs.
The proceedings arose out of demonstrations in Dublin in 1970, including a Sinn Féin picket outside Berry's home, where posters and placards were displayed, accusing him of being a "felon setter" who had assisted in the jailing of Irish republicans in Britain.
The Irish Times and Irish Press published the contents of placards and a similar item was shown on RTÉ.
Berry initiated proceedings against the three organisations and was given an indemnity against financial risk by the State. The indemnity was requested by the Minister for Justice at the time, Mr Des O'Malley, from the Minister for Finance, the late George Colley.
Initially the request only concerned the Irish Press but was extended when Berry decided to take actions against The Irish Times and RTÉ.
However, a jury found that Berry had not been libelled by The Irish Times and this was upheld on appeal by the Supreme Court in August 1972. The cases against the Irish Press and RTÉ fell as a consequence (Berry was also contemplating a similar action against the fortnightly magazine, Hibernia).
At this stage the total legal bill accumulated by Berry amounted to £6,139 including Irish Times costs of £1,799.95, Irish Press costs of £866.05 and £3,473 owed to his own legal team.
There was considerable delay before payment was finally made in late July 1973, and the tone of letters to the Department of Justice became increasingly urgent and alarmed in the meantime.
On June 1st, 1973, Arthur Cox & Co, Solicitors, who had acted for Berry, wrote to the Department of Justice that, unless payment was made "as a matter of extreme urgency" to The Irish Times, "the bailiffs will arrive at Mr Berry's house and and seize his furniture and effects".
This letter, like a previous one dated April 3rd, went unanswered and, on July 13th, Cox and Co wrote to say: "We are quite unable to understand why payment has not been made."
As for their own costs: "We did the work at the request of the Department and we should be paid, and it should not be necessary for us to send a reminder."
A further letter, delivered by hand on July 16th, said: "If the bailiffs do attend at Mr Berry's house and seize his property, this, apart from the most unwelcome publicity which it would attract, would almost certainly result in court proceedings being instituted by Mr Berry against the Minister for breach of the undertaking to indemnify Mr Berry against payment of the costs."