Gerry Adams’ claim that his libel case against the BBC was about “putting manners” on the broadcaster has been described as “chilling” by a senior union figure.
Seamus Dooley, the Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), also said the high profile case showed the need for reform of Ireland’s defamation laws, saying the public would never know why the jury made its decision.
Former Sinn Fein leader Mr Adams took the BBC to court over a 2016 episode of its Spotlight programme, and an accompanying online story, which he said defamed him by alleging he sanctioned the killing of former Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson, for which he denies any involvement.
A jury at the High Court in Dublin awarded him 100,000 euro (£84,000) when it found in his favour on Friday, after determining that was the meaning of words included in the programme and article.
It also found the BBC’s actions were not in good faith and the corporation had not acted in a fair and reasonable way.
Mr Adams’ legal team said the verdict of the jury was a “full vindication” for their client while the BBC said it was “disappointed” with the outcome.
Mr Donaldson was shot dead in Co Donegal in 2006, months after admitting his role as a police and MI5 agent over 20 years.
Mr Dooley told RTE’s This Week programme that it was a verdict which would make journalists “pause for reflection”.
He said: “The first thing we should say is Gerry Adams was entitled to take his case.
“But it does have profound implications for the practise of journalism and I think it has implications both in terms of defamation law but also for me in terms of journalism in Northern Ireland and the relationship between Sinn Fein and journalists in Northern Ireland.”
Speaking outside court on Friday, Mr Adams said taking the case was “about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation”.
He added: “The British Broadcasting Corporation upholds the ethos of the British state in Ireland, and in my view it’s out of sync in many, many fronts with the Good Friday Agreement.”
Mr Dooley said: “I found that a chilling comment actually. He referred to putting manners on the BBC, to me that means putting them back in their box.
“The reality is that Spotlight has, for over 40 years, done some of the most amazing investigative journalism.
“Margaret Thatcher tried to ban Spotlight because of their coverage of Gibraltar Three, they exposed Kincora at the heart of the British establishment, recently they did work on Stakeknife, and in fact the Sinn Fein mayor of Derry led the campaign to save BBC Radio Foyle news service.
“I found the attitude quite chilling but also unfair and unreasonable in the circumstances.”
Mr Dooley said that Mr Adams was a figure of “huge significance” to journalists, historians and academics and had “influenced the shape of history of Northern Ireland”.
He added: “On that basis, any journalist has a right, any academic, to question and probe.”
He said the case underpinned the need for a review of defamation laws in Ireland.
He said: “First of all we need to look at the defence of honest opinion and how you square that circle in the context of journalists’ right to protect sources, it is a real difficulty.
“For many years the NUJ was in favour of retaining juries. I have now reached the conclusion in defamation cases that juries are not appropriate.
“One of the reasons is we will never know why the jury reached this decision.
“If, as in Northern Ireland, had Mr Adams taken his case in Northern Ireland, the case is heard before judges, you have the benefit of a written judgment, you have the benefit of a detailed explanation of the reason why a verdict is given.
“That provides an insight and a guide.
“Here we don’t know.”
Mr Dooley also pointed out that proceedings in the case had been running since 2016.
Former Sinn Fein member Mr Donaldson was shot dead in Co Donegal in 2006, months after admitting his role as a police and MI5 agent over 20 years.
In the Spotlight programme broadcast in September 2016, an anonymous source given the pseudonym Martin claimed the shooting was sanctioned by the political and military leadership of the IRA and that Mr Adams gave “the final say”.
In 2009, the dissident republican group the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the killing and a Garda investigation into the matter remains ongoing.
Mr Adams had described the allegation as a “grievous smear”.
