Kehoe awarded €3,500 in defamation case against RTÉ
A former Sinn Féin councillor has won his High Court case for damages against RTÉ for defamation and has been awarded €3,500.
Nicky Kehoe, who is now a political manager for Sinn Féin, had sued over comments made about him during a live radio debate on Saturday with Claire Byrne in October 2015.
The jury found the contents of the broadcast meant that Mr Kehoe was not a fit person to be involved in the democratic process.
However, it found the broadcaster was only 35% responsible for the defamation and former Labour TD Joe Costello was responsible for 65%.
RTÉ lawyers say they plan to appeal the case and said it is possibly the lowest award of damages ever made in a defamation case.
The costs of the case are likely to be much higher.
These have not yet been decided.
Series of questions for jury
On the issue paper, the jury was asked a series of questions.
These included if the contents of the broadcast, taken as a whole, meant that Mr Kehoe was a member of the IRA army council, was a member of an illegal criminal organisation or that he controlled Sinn Féin votes on Dublin City Council on behalf of the IRA army council.
They jury also had to decide if the broadcast meant that Mr Kehoe was involved in a deliberate attempt to subvert the operation of Dublin City Council to further the aims of an illegal organisation and that he was not a fit person to be involved in the democratic process.
The jury answered “No” to all but one of the above questions, but answered “Yes” to the final part – that the broadcast meant Mr Kehoe was not a fit person to be involved in the democratic process.