Commentator Malachi O’Doherty, who successfully defended a libel action taken by Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly, said being sued is “the nightmare of every journalist”.
Even with a fair and defensible case “we can get drawn into great expense and years of stress and anxiety,” said Mr O’Doherty.
He added: “There really should be some other way of resolving disputes than through this ghastly uncertain poker game.”
Mr O’Doherty was sued over comments he made on two radio programmes, including The Nolan Show. He stated Mr Kelly shot a prison officer during the 1983 Maze escape by IRA inmates.
The High Court in Belfast struck out Mr Kelly’s case, describing it as “scandalous, frivolous and vexatious”.
“In the past, when I was sued over comments I made on the BBC, the broadcaster was also included in the suit and took on the expense of defending and resolving it,” the author said.
“The difference with Gerry Kelly’s case against me was that he did not seek redress from the broadcasters, those with the resources to compensate him and the platform on which to offer an apology or a correction if it was warranted. I was therefore on my own and dangerously exposed.
“I do believe that people have a right to seek redress if unjustly impugned. I don’t see the justice in that redress always having to be money.”
