A JOURNALIST who faces going to prison for refusing to disclose his sources will not have the matter resolved before next month. A Star newspaper reporter, Mr Barry O'Kelly, had refused to reveal his sources in a case involving the Garda Representative Association and one of its employees.
When the breach of contract case against the GRA by Ms Nicola Gallagher began, Mr O'Kelly told the court he would not reveal who had told him the terms of a confidential settlement between Ms Gallagher and the GRA.
These terms were published in an article written by Mr O'Kelly, and led to the case being taken by Ms Gallagher.
Mr O'Kelly has twice told the Circuit Civil Court he will not divulge his source and the court has already been told by his solicitor, Mr Michael Kealey, that he will not be changing his mind.
Following legal submissions yesterday by Mr Kevin Feeney SC, for Mr O'Kelly, and Mr Brian Murray, counsel for the Attorney General, Judge James Carroll decided he would have to hear the Gallagher/GRA case in full before reaching a conclusion. He set January 13th as the date.
The judge heard that if Mr O'Kelly was imprisoned, the matter would proceed either by way of appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal or by way of a case stated to the Supreme Court.
Judge Carroll had earlier been told that the Star was prepared to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
Mr Feeney submitted that it would be premature to require Mr O'Kelly to indicate his source and to breach a confidence until it would appear relevant and necessary to do so, and after the parties in the Gallagher/GRA action had exhausted other procedures.
Judge Carroll said it seemed to him that if a plaintiff was going to succeed whether or not a witness gave evidence, the court was not under any obligation to impose penalties simply for the sake of showing the muscles of the court.
Mr Murray supported the contention that the Gallagher/GRA action should first be fully heard by the court. He said that in cases where there was a matter of confidentiality, there was English legal authority imposing the test of necessity of the evidence before a court should exercise its power of compulsion.