A libel action taken by a Dublin woman over a caption on a photograph in the Daily Mirror which, she claimed, wrongly meant she was a member of Cumann na mBan, was settled at the High Court yesterday.
Mr Justice Kelly struck out the case taken by Ms Martina Shanahan, of West Road, East Wall, Dublin, against Mirror Group Newspapers, of Canary Wharf London, after being told by Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for Ms Shanahan, that the action had been settled.
Mr Cooney told the judge and jury that the action arose out of an article published in the Daily Mirror on February 29th last year.
The article, under the headlines "No last respects for bus bomber" and "Provos who gatecrashed", related to the funeral in Gorey, Co Wexford, of IRA man Edward O'Brien, who died when the bomb he was carrying exploded on a London bus. Under the headline "Provos who gatecrashed", the newspaper published a photograph of Ms Shanahan with the caption: "TERROR: Kane.".
In the article, there was a reference to a Ms Pamela Kane, who was stated to be aged 31 and from Dublin. Ms Kane served a prison sentence in connection with a bank raid in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.
In court yesterday, Mr Donal O'Donnell SC, for Mirror Group Newspapers, said the Daily Mirror had, on February 29th 1996, published a photograph of Ms Martina Shanahan, of West Road, East Wall, and wrongly captioned it with the name of Kane.
His clients wished to state that Ms Shanahan was not in any way connected with Ms Kane and was not now, nor ever was, a member of Cumann na mBan. His clients also wished to state that Ms Shanahan had never been convicted of a bank robbery. Counsel said his clients sincerely apologised to Ms Shanahan.