The long-running libel action taken by Mr Albert Reynolds, the former Taoiseach, against the Sunday Times has ended with the announcement of a settlement only weeks before a retrial was due to begin in London.
The litigation began as a writ for libel and mushroomed into a fight by the newspaper for a change in English law to extend press freedom. During the many twists and turns of the case the costs of the legal action rose to an estimated stg£1.5 million.
Yesterday, Mr Reynolds told The Irish Times that he was very pleased with the settlement. "Apart from me, I'm pleased for my wife and family. We can all go back to living a normal life."
He said details of the settlement were confidential, but when asked about the payment of costs, he replied: "I'm very pleased with the settlement. Both sides are happy with that."
He had never expected the case to take the length of time it did or go through three courts: the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.
Mr Reynolds said: "I had to take the case because of the implications concerning my reputation and the principles involving me as Taoiseach."
He said that negotiations to settle had been off and on since March. The last set of negotiations took almost a week and settlement was finally reached on Saturday.
In a statement in its British editions yesterday the Sunday Times referred to an article written in November 1994 at the time the Fianna Fail-Labour coalition collapsed and Mr Reynolds resigned as Taoiseach. That article, which appeared in the newspaper's English, Scottish and Welsh editions, alleged that Mr Reynolds had misled and, in effect, lied to the Dail.
The settlement statement yesterday said: "While the Sunday Times believed that the Dail and the coalition Labour Party were not made aware of all relevant information, it accepts Mr Reynolds' assurance that he did not lie to them. We regret any distress or embarrassment caused. Mr Reynolds accepts that the article was not published maliciously."
A second case taken by Mr Reynolds against the newspaper in Ireland over an article published in December 1997 has also been settled. In yesterday's Irish editions the newspaper stated: "We are pleased to announce the resolution of a libel action against the Sunday Times by Albert Reynolds, the former Taoiseach. In the edition of the Sunday Times published in Ireland on December 7th 1997 we published an extract from a draft memoir written by Fergus Finlay, former adviser to Dick Spring, the Labour Party leader and Tanaiste. Mr Finlay wrote that some of Mr Reynolds' political actions at the time of the collapse of the Fianna Fail-Labour government in November 1994 were `irredeemably corrupt'.
"The Sunday Times and Fergus Finlay accept that Mr Reynolds did not behave in a corrupt manner and withdraw any suggestion that he did. We regret any hurt caused to Mr Reynolds."
After the first libel trial in 1996, which took five weeks and two days, the jury found that Mr Reynolds was libelled but that there was no malice in the coverage. In what has now become a memorable decision, the jury awarded Mr Reynolds zero damages, but this was later changed by the judge to one penny.
In November 1996, the judge ruled that Mr Reynolds might not have to pay the newspaper's £200,000 legal preparation costs. The newspaper announced that it would appeal this and also began a test case, arguing that it was justified in printing the article as it had qualified privilege. This went eventually to the House of Lords, which in October 1999 rejected the newspaper's claim of qualified privilege.
At the same time, Mr Reynolds decided to appeal the zero damages award. The appeal began in June 1998, resulting in Mr Reynolds being granted a retrial on the grounds that the trial judge had misdirected the jury.