The journalist John Waters yesterday complained in the High Court in Dublin that a Sunday Times article written by gossip columnist Terry Keane meant he was a bad father who would be unsympathetic to his six-year-old daughter's future needs.
On the opening day of his libel action against the newspaper, Mr Waters said that when he read the article by Ms Keane his reaction was one of absolute horror that she had dragged Róisín into a piece she had written about an address he had given at the Abbey Theatre.
Mr Waters (47) said that stood out as the most outstanding aspect of the article, which is at the centre of his action against Times Newspapers Ltd, Virginia Street, London. His address was given before the start of the Greek play, Medea, in June 2000.
He told Mr Justice Kearns and a jury that part of Ms Keane's article was the opposite of the truth, which was that he loved his daughter above anything else in the world in this life. His concern was that on the basis of his work in the public arena anyone would draw his daughter into the matter when he was on stage talking about a play that was 2,500 years old.
That she should be metaphorically dragged from her bed and put into the debate left him weak and dizzy with nausea that any human being would do that to him and to her. It "took my breath away" that this could happen in what purported to be a newspaper dealing with public issues.
Mr Waters, who is an Irish Times columnist, said Ms Keane had trawled through his speech to look for something she might "mangle" into some shape to suit her purpose. The "props" used were a misuse of his words. The core meaning of his script had been taken out.
The article meant John Waters did not care about love while he had spent the previous four years demonstrating at every available opportunity that he absolutely believed in love in a total and unmitigating way, he added.
The Terry Keane column in the Sunday Times on June 18th, 2000, was under the heading, "Allow me the last word on John Waters' world."
It said: "Last Tuesday Ireland's foremost masculinist, John Waters, gave a pre-performance talk on Medea, which is being staged nightly at the Abbey Theatre to rave reviews. Mr Waters uses the opportunity for a gender-based assault. He told us: 'In the end, Medea goes unpunished.' Having lost her husband and murdered her own babies, are we to suppose she lived happily ever after?
"According to Waters' world: 'I'm afraid I don't believe in love; I don't believe in personality disorder; I don't believe in negative childhood experience; I don't believe in female biochemistry; I don't believe in postnatal depression; I don't believe in hormones; I don't believe in mood swings; I don't believe in self-pity; I don't believe in victimhood; I don't believe in heroines; I don't believe in universal motherhood; I don't believe in strong women; I don't believe in grand passion; I just believe in right and wrong, good and evil.'
"His un-credo makes me cringe and my sympathy goes to his toddler, Róisin. When she becomes a teenager and, I hope, believes in love, should she suffer from mood swings or any affliction of womanhood, she will be truly goosed. And better not ask dad for tea or sympathy . . . or help."
It is claimed that the newspaper failed to publish sentences immediately preceding and subsequent to the quotation attributed to Mr Waters in the article which qualified and/or explained the nature and quality of his quoted words and provided a context to it. The contextual or explanatory sentences were deliberately omitted from the quotation to alter the import of Mr Waters's words to portray him in an adverse light, it is pleaded.
Mr Waters claims the words mean he was a bad father; an unsympathetic person, in particular in relation to his daughter and her needs; that he was not a helpful or supportive father who would not be expected to provide assistance when she needed it.
The defence denies the words bore the meanings claimed and pleads that they were fair comment on a matter of public interest. It is denied Mr Waters's character and reputation had been damaged or that the words were published maliciously.
Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for Mr Waters, outlined Mr Waters's relationship with singer Sinéad O'Connor, whom he met in 1995. The friendship deepened, and there was a period of intimacy over two to three months. Sinéad became pregnant, and their daughter Róisín was born.
The relationship between Mr Waters and Ms O'Connor became turbulent. Mr Waters felt a great responsibility to his daughter.
Counsel said Mr Waters had accepted an invitation to address the audience before the opening of Medea in the Abbey. He delivered a prepared script in relation to the play which drew a good response from the audience. One would have expected the newspaper would have sent one of its critics to it. Instead, a gossip columnist, Ms Keane, was sent.
What appeared in the Sunday Times was a very nasty and vile piece of journalism which essentially attacked Mr Waters in the way he was then, and might in the future, be caring for his daughter. It was far removed from anything Mr Waters said in his address. The transcript contained controversial views about Irish society in the context of the play. What was relevant was the summary.
On July 9th, 2000, without agreement, the newspaper published a clarification. In it, Ms Keane said Mr Waters had expressed concern that the article might have been taken to suggest he was unfit to bring up his daughter.
It added: "That is not what I said, or meant to say. While I disagree strongly with his views on women and their place in society, I have no doubt that John is fit and capable of bringing up his daughter."
In evidence Mr Waters, a native of Castlerea, Co Roscommon, said he worked as a clerical officer with CIÉ before taking over his father's mailcoach driver's job on his retirement. He began sending articles to Hot Press magazine and got a staff job there in 1984. He worked with other publications later.
He met Sinéad O'Connor in 1995. The relationship became intimate, and they had a brief romance as a result of which which Sinéad became pregnant. The relationship lasted another two months, and the break-up was acrimonious. The real problem was the amount of publicity.
Mr Waters said he was very happy about the pregnancy. He thought they briefly considered marrying, but the relationship broke down. Ms O'Connor was living in London, and he was living in Dublin. He attended Róisín's birth in London on March 10th, 1996. He was very strongly of the view that he had a lifelong responsibility towards his child and would do whatever he could towards carrying it out.
The day Róisín was born he went into a church in London and vowed that he would always love her and do what he could to protect her. He decided he would visit her every week or 10 days for three days. In the first three years of her life he made over 100 round trips (to London) to see her.
Mr Waters said he and Sinéad had a reasonably amicable relationship and would share custody of Róisín. When she was three, there was a serious breakdown in the relationship and it was necessary to get involved in legal proceedings.The proceedings here related to publicity. There were family law proceedings in England. His objective was to achieve a form of joint custody ratified in law.
By May 2000 they had obtained a final transfer of the family proceedings from the UK to here. Róisín's residence was transferred to this jurisdiction, and she now lived here with him. There was a consent order for joint custody in this jurisdiction.
The hearing continues today.