Mail on Sunday facing trial over spoof Irish cover

That business of the Irish edition of the Mail on Sunday publishing a spoof wrap-around of the Sunday Tribune has ended up in court.

You may recall that the Tribune had just entered receivership at the time and its editor, Nóirín Hegarty, was furious that the MoS had sought to attract her readers while there was still a possibility of the paper being saved.

In fact, the Tribune did collapse (and Hegarty is now editor of the independent.ie website).

Anyway, the receiver subsequently sued the publishers of the Mail on Sunday, Associated Newspapers, over the use of the Tribune's masthead.

In a preliminary hearing in the Dublin high court, Associated demanded that the receiver should provide security for the legal costs.

The judge, noting that the receiver had been appointed to pursue the action by a division of Independent News & Media, "a significant commercial operation", granted the application.

But she thought the amount Associated suggested - €700,000 (£617,000) - was "exaggerated". She urged both sides to agree on the amount of security before returning to court on 4 April.

Sources: Irish Times/RTE