In yet another twist in the travails of Tony Quinn, lifestyle guru and businessman, a journalist and a director of a charitable organisation have had Orders requiring them to give evidence in Dublin as part of US court proceedings involving Mr Quinn overturned.
Nicola Tallant, an Investigative Reporter with the Sunday World newspaper, and Mike Garde, director of Dialogue Ireland, a charity which helps victims of cults, were ordered by the High Court to give evidence in Ireland as part of proceedings in Denver, Colorado concerning an oil company to which Mr. Quinn was appointed director. It was claimed that Nicola Tallant, who wrote several articles critical of Mr Quinn, and Mr Garde, whose website posted content raising concerns about Mr Quinn, had information in relation to a campaign of disparagement against the directors of the oil company (including Mr. Quinn) which was in violation of a share purchase agreement central to the litigation. Ms Tallant and Mr Garde sought to have the Orders set aside. The Court was of the view that the evidence sought was relevant to the Colorado proceedings and that the application was not oppressive. However, the Court decided that the case for compelling Ms Tallant to give evidence had not been established convincingly. The questions posed by the Colorado court had probed the identity of her sources. The Court held that the rightful liberty of freedom of expression would be compromised – perhaps even completely jeopardised – if disclosure of sources and discussions with sources could readily be compelled through litigation. The Court held that Mr Garde’s activities, although he was not a journalist in a strict sense of the term, fell squarely within the “Education of Public Opinion” envisaged by the Constitution and, consequently, that there was a high constitutional value in protecting his right to voice his views in relation to the actions of religious cults. The Court concluded, therefore, that Mr Garde had similar interests to those of Ms Tallant in ensuring that his sources were likewise protected.
Contributed by Fiona Barry.
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