The Sunday World is due to face U2’s lawyers next week to explain
why it published details about a seriously ill relative of a band
member.
The rock group injuncted the paper after its first edition to stop it repeating details in subsequent editions last weekend.
A
court hearing next Monday will be the first time the Republic of
Ireland’s journalists’ exemption from prosecution under the country’s
Data Protection Act 2003 will be challenged.
And it could even lead to the implementation of a statutory code of conduct for journalists in the Republic of Ireland.
The rock group’s lawyers took action after the Dublin-based tabloid identified the relative and a condition they suffer from.
The
story was not followed up in the Irish papers the following Monday
after newsdesks were notified of the injunction granted against the
Sunday World in the early hours of Sunday morning.
It is not
known if the paper intends to contest the injunction – which
effectively forbids it from again naming the relative or discussing
their illness.
Despite knowing about the story, London-based
titles – including The Sun , Daily Mail and News of the World –
declined to publish it.
However, the Dublin-based Irish Daily
Star reported aspects of the story last Friday. But they did not name
the relative or the nature of their illness.
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