Lord Alderdice, former speaker in the Northern Ireland Assembly, yesterday won a court victory over newspaper allegations that he had abandoned his post during a developing crisis in the peace process to buy a holiday home in France.
The Sunday Tribune issued an apology and agreed to pay damages for two reports published in November 2001.
At the time, the Government was urgently trying to reconvene the Assembly and have Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble reinstalled as First Minister and avoid fresh elections to the 108-member parliament.
But with the plans up against a looming deadline, the newspaper alleged Lord Alderdice, a former Alliance Party leader, could not be contacted during a frantic weekend due to his business trip.
It was also claimed that he resisted attempts to set up an earlier Assembly meeting which would have provided more time for the Alliance Party to realign themselves as unionists in order to usher Mr Trimble back into office.
The libel action had been expected to last for at least five days at the High Court in Belfast, but after counsel for Lord Alderdice had opened his case, a settlement was negotiated.
An apology read out in court by barrister Mr Gerald Simpson, for the Sunday Tribune and journalist Ed Moloney, said: "The defendants unreservedly retract an allegation made in articles on November 4th and 11th, 2001, which may have suggested Lord Alderdice deserted his post as speaker or that he acted in any way to prevent an earlier meeting of the Assembly.
"The defendants accept at all times Lord Alderdice was in contact not only with his office but with the Government." Legal costs and damages believed to involve a five-figure sum, were awarded to the former speaker, who now sits on the Independent Monitoring Commission paramilitary ceasefire watchdog.
Outside the court, Lord Alderdice expressed his delight that his professional standing had not been tarnished.
He also gave some insight into the distress the allegations had caused him. "If you put yourself in my situation you would understand. I didn't enter into such things lightly, I'm used to the rough and tumble of politics.
"You can take it if I didn't have very strong feelings about this matter I wouldn't have pursued it."