Banning Libel Bullies

A number of Irish writers have written an open letter to the North's First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, calling for the libel reform law to be extended from the UK to Northern Ireland. In their letter the writers demand that 'libel bullies' should not be made welcome in Belfast. There has been resistance in the North to the law being extended there and the leading libel lawyer Paul Tweed has argued in defence of tighter censorship legislation. Censorship was for long a pervasive factor in Irish life. The former Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, Conor Cruise O'Brien stringently opposed air time being given to members of Sinn Fein during the Provisional IRA's campaign and tried to:

use Section 31 to censor coverage of the troubles in Northern Ireland, which could have been seen as pro-nationalist, in papers such as The Irish Press, the editor, Tim Pat Coogan, published editorials attacking the Bill.

21 January 1962: Conor Cruise O'Brien and his new wife Maire McEntee
return from honeymoon

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