https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/stephen-nolan-ends-legal-action-against-the-irish-news-H2DUUW7TWRDXLJCVGRHAJM2GPQ/

The case arose following reports published by the paper in August of last year

By Staff ReporterJune 27, 2024 at 6:00am BST

BBC broadcaster Stephen Nolan has ended legal action he was taking against The Irish News and journalist Rodney Edwards.

The case arose following reports published by the paper in August of last year.

A joint statement said: “We are pleased to confirm that Stephen Nolan’s legal action against the publishers of The Irish News and the journalist Rodney Edwards has been resolved on mutually satisfactory terms.

“All the parties agree that a dispute between journalists, each of whom is very respected in their own fields, is undesirable for everyone concerned.

“Mr Nolan acknowledges that The Irish News is entitled to report on matters which are in the public interest, including issues linked to the BBC, fairly and accurately.

“The Irish News, for its part, accepts that at no stage did Mr Nolan or other BBC figures attempt to engage in the manipulation of audiences during his television programme.

“Both sides agree that press freedom is an essential element of any democratic society.”

by MavicMini_NI

2 comments

  1. Interesting. Neither the Irish News nor Rodney Edwards have had to issue a retraction, so they must have been very confident in their stance / publishings.

    Has BBC stepped in and had a word with Nolan, or has his high priced lawyer told him this one will end in a costly loss

  2. I must have missed it when Nolan’s legal action against Edwards here became a massive story? Isn’t a massively disturbing and important issue when people try to silence journalists with legal threats? Isn’t it “intimidatory”? Isn’t it “chilling”?

    Doesn’t this have extremely serious implications about press freedoms in NI?

    I seem to remember a couple of well known journalists frothing at the mouth over SF’s legal action against journalists. Apparently it was worth constant coverage in multiple newspapers and merited discussion of at least one BBC NI tv show.

    Did I miss this?

    Isn’t it even more serious when there’s no clarity as to who was actually paying for the legal action with a possibility that it may even have been tax payer funded?

    Isn’t it massively significant that a senior figure at BBC NI (Adam Smyth) weighed in behind this dystopian, anti-free speech attack on the press by Nolan?

    This is so, so puzzling and strange.

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