The actor Liam Neeson and his actress wife Natasha Richardson yesterday won £50,000 sterling in libel damages and a public apology over newspaper reports last month which claimed their marriage was over. They announced they were giving the money to the fund for victims of the Omagh bombing. .
The couple, who have been married for four years and have two sons, sued Britain's Mirror group MGN over articles in the Daily Mirror and Scotland's Daily Record. Their lawyer, Mr Mark Thompson, told the High Court in London that within days of the articles appearing there was "an explosion of publicity" worldwide.
"Mr Neeson and Miss Richardson are happily married, their marriage is not a sham and there has not been a secret visit by Miss Richardson to London solicitors for any purpose, let alone that of obtaining advice about divorce," he added.
Neeson, the star of Michael Collins and Schindler's List, is a native of Ballymena. He first heard of the newspaper stories when his mother phoned him in great distress after seeing the headlines about his marriage while out shopping. The couple had to spend a number of anxious and very distressing days attempting to deal with the destructive aftermath of the articles, denying the allegations to friends and family, Mr Thomson said.
MGN accepted "unequivocally" that the story was entirely false and apologised for the embarrassment, hurt and distress caused to Neeson and his wife. The information came from a source thought to be reliable, the group's solicitor, Mr Martin Cruddace, said.