A GUESTHOUSE owner told a High Court jury yesterday his business had fallen off because he was “tormented” by “a plague” caused by an allegedly defamatory RTÉ broadcast that described his premises as a “byword in Waterford for prostitution”.
Vincent O’Toole (84), who owns the Maryland House, the Mall, Waterford city, has claimed words used in a Nob Nation sketch broadcast on 2FM’s Gerry Ryan Show on August 26th, 2008, meant he was a brothel-keeper, his home was a haunt for undesirables and he was or is involved in racketeering.
He has brought proceedings against RTÉ alleging libel in the broadcast. The court has heard he previously successfully sued the Sunday World over a similar claim and was awarded €50,000 in damages.
In evidence yesterday, his wife, Ruth, said she had been abused and called a slapper and a whore in a local pub as a result of the sketch. She was in utter shock after hearing the sketch soon after it was broadcast in August 2008. “To think that could be done to a man of 84 years of age – it is a thundering disgrace,” she said.
RTÉ worked off certain principles of broadcasting but had not stood by them, she said. The broadcast was available on the internet through the website Mediafly until March 2010 and could be shared through e-mail, Bebo and Facebook.
She also said incidents of people looking for prostitutes were ongoing and “literally every day” there were men coming in looking for “extra services and whores”.
The sketch at issue featured “Kevin My-arse” giving a “Linguaphone” guide to Waterford slang. It stated: “The Maryland is a byword in Waterford for prostitution, although the original establishment has ceased trading.”
RTÉ says it is very sorry for the broadcast but denies Mr O’Toole had been brought into public scandal, odium or contempt, and pleads there was limited emotional damage to him and limited damage to his reputation.
Head of RTÉ 2FM John McMahon told the court yesterday the broadcast remained available as a podcast until March 2010 because of an error due to the fact it had originally been uploaded twice. The hearing continues.