THE IRISH Mail on Sundayhas denied claims it tried to deceive readers into buying the paper by publishing a special edition with a fake Sunday Tribunecover page.
Associated Newspapers Ireland, owners of the Irish Mail on Sunday,is being prosecuted by the National Consumer Agency at the Dublin District Civil Court for breaching the Consumer Protection Act.
The watchdog brought the case after complaints by readers who bought the special edition on February 6th last thinking they had purchased the Sunday Tribune, days after it went into receivership.
A receiver was appointed to the loss-making Sunday Tribuneon Tuesday, February 1st and two days later a decision was made not to bring out an edition on February 6th.
The Irish Mail on Sundaythen distributed about 26,000 special editions to shops on the east coast. They featured a "wraparound" cover with a heading saying "a special edition designed for readers of the Sunday Tribune".
The special edition also had vouchers on the back page offering the Irish Mail on Sundayat a reduced price for the next four weeks.
In evidence, Noirin Hegarty, Sunday Tribuneeditor for six years prior to its closure, told Judge Conal Gibbons that on Sunday, February 6th last, she learned there was a paper purporting to be the Sunday Tribune.
She told Jonathan Kilfeather SC, for the consumer agency, that the masthead and colours were the same as the Sunday Tribuneand similar typefaces were used. "It was not the Sunday Tribunebut it looked like it," she said.
She later issued a statement expressing her outrage at the edition printed by the Irish Mail on Sunday.
Seamus Dooley, Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said he bought the edition thinking it was the Sunday Tribune.He agreed with Neil Steen, for Associated Newspapers Ireland, that the closure of the Sunday Tribuneand announcement that there would be no further editions for at least four weeks had been well publicised.
However, Mr Dooley added that the Sunday Tribunemanagement had not consulted the union about the closure, "so it was entirely possible that they could have brought out an edition". He described the Irish Mail on Sunday edition as "crass" and an example of "sharp practice".
Five consumers gave evidence telling the court that they had each bought the special editions thinking they were the Sunday Tribune.
Witness Pierce Farrell told the court he felt "duped" when he brought one of them home and discovered it was really the Irish Mail on Sunday.
Paul Henderson, managing director of Associated Newspapers Ireland, described the wraparound cover as a "marketing stunt" to attract Sunday Tribunereaders and he denied there was any intention to deceive them.
Sebastian Hamilton, editor of the Irish Mail on Sunday, said that when a newspaper closes its readers can be lost to the market immediately unless they have been attracted to an alternative title.
The case continues today.