A Circuit Court judge has lifted a ban on the reporting of a sexual abuse case after hearing legal argument from six media groups.
On Wednesday, Judge Kieran O'Connor banned the media from reporting the case.
At yesterday's sitting in Dublin he said he had banned the media because he feared the presence of reporters might influence the sentence he imposed. He also said he was concerned that the media might identify the victim.
The case concerned a 57-yearold Dublin man who was given a three-year suspended sentence for sexually abusing a 10-yearold girl.
The defendant pleaded guilty to four counts of sexually assaulting the girl at his home in 1993 and 1994. A number of other charges were also taken into consideration.
Two barristers representing The Irish Times, the Irish Independent, the Sun, the Star, Examiner Publications and RTE argued that the ban violated the public's constitutional right to access to the courts.
Judge O'Connor amended his order but maintained he had the right to control reporting of sexual abuse cases.
He ordered that the media could not report anything which would identify the victim. This included the name of the accused and his profession.
Mr Eoin McCullough had earlier told Judge O'Connor he wished to challenge the total ban on reporting of the case on behalf of The Irish Times, Independent Newspapers News group, the Independent Star Group and Examiner Publications.
Mr McCullough said the 1981 Rape Law Amendment Act prohibited the media from identifying victims in sexual offences listed under the Act. Any media outlet which disobeyed this would be guilty of a criminal offence.
He said Judge O'Connor's order was in excess of what was specified by statute. Mr McCullough cited the case of The Irish Times and others v Judge Anthony Murphy in which a Circuit Court judge had banned contemporaneous reporting of a trial.
The Supreme Court had ruled that the judge was wrong to make such an order as this violated the public's access to the courts, protected by Article 34.1 of the Constitution.
Judge O'Connor said the issue was whether the case was in public or "in camera" and said he had common law jurisdiction to rule on how proceedings should be conducted.
Mr McCullough said common law was superseded by constitutional rights. He said that in the Judge Murphy case, the issue was whether the defendants' right to a fair trial would be violated by media reporting of the case. There was no such issue in this case, he argued.
Judge O'Connor agreed to amend his order but said he was concerned that the media should not identify the victims of sexual abuse.
At Wednesday's court sitting, the victim wept as she told Judge O'Connor she wanted to kill herself to escape the emotional pain the abuse had caused.
She said she had physically injured herself and had been twice sent to a child psychiatric unit.
The court heard Garda evidence that the defendant made a full admission when he was arrested.
He said his memory had lapsed but told gardai of the four incidents of sexual abuse he could remember. The defendant's daughter said she and her father had raised her sisters and that he was a fantastic father who had always been open and caring to his family.
Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, said three of the defendant's other daughters were willing to give evidence on his behalf if required.
Judge O'Connor told the victim he had the utmost sympathy for her and hoped she would be able to cope in the future. He bound the accused to the peace for two years and ordered that he remain under probationary supervision for that time.