An October 2022 article claiming Enoch Burke was moved to a different jail cell for his own safety as he was “annoying” other prisoners contained inaccuracies for which the newspaper held up its hands, the editor of the Sunday Independent has told the High Court.
Alan English said the article would have been reviewed by their legal advisers, and there were no prepublication “red flags” about the piece, over which Mr Burke is suing for alleged defamation.
The editor accepted there were some inaccuracies, which he would consider to be minor and for which the paper apologised, but he does not accept “at all” that it contained anything defamatory. He is not the type of editor who is slow to correct an error, he added.
Mr English said Mr Burke became a “national talking point” after the court heard of his refusal to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath.
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Mr Burke was first jailed in early September 2022 for breaching a court order restraining him from attending at the school, which had suspended and later dismissed him after he publicly objected to being instructed to refer to a male student using they/them pronouns.
On the third day of Mr Burke’s defamation action, Mr English said there is a “distinction between the public interest and what the public are interested in”, but Mr Burke “ticked both boxes”. He said the Sunday Independent is in the business of reflecting the national conversation and it has run a “diverse” set of opinions about Mr Burke’s situation.
Mr Burke is suing Mediahuis, as publisher of the Sunday Independent, the newspaper’s editor Alan English and reporter Ali Bracken, alleging he was defamed in a story published on October 9th, 2022, during his first prison stint.
The article cited unnamed sources in support of its statement that Mr Burke had been moved to a new jail cell for his own safety as he was “annoying other prisoners” and “repeatedly expressing his outspoken views and beliefs”.
The newspaper issued an apology on January 1st, 2023, and clarified that Mr Burke’s cell change was for “operational reasons only and not for the reasons stated in the article”. It strongly denies defamation and pleads fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest.
Mr English said he has the “utmost respect” for the writer of the piece, who is a reporter of “long-standing”, “utmost integrity” and reliability. He said the information was received in good faith by the reporter from a long-standing source.
During cross-examination, Mr Burke pressed him on elements of the story that Mr Burke contends were untrue, but for which the newspaper did not apologise. Mr English disagreed with his propositions and said it is “eminently possible” that Mr Burke was indeed annoying other prisoners.
He disputed Mr Burke’s characterisation of the piece as a “bag of lies”, saying instead there were inaccuracies and “we held our hands up”.
Earlier, Mr Burke had called his mother to the stand. Martina Burke said she was “absolutely horrified” and “deeply humiliated” after reading the “utterly false, defamatory” article.
Mrs Burke said she has known her son for more than 30 years, and he is “reserved” and “very private”. She said the story seemed to be a “malicious attempt” to “destroy” her son and “assassinate” his character.
Asked if she was humiliated when her son was imprisoned, she said she is not humiliated by someone standing for their beliefs. Mr Lupton asked if she was distressed when he was sent to Mountjoy. She said she was not.
She denied she was directing her son to remain in prison.
The defence will continue presenting its evidence on Friday before the parties make their legal submissions. It denies Mr Burke’s claims.
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