Cooper-Flynn to appeal High Court libel decision

Beverly Cooper-Flynn has confirmed that she will appeal the High Court decision in her recent libel action against RTÉ and a retired farmer. In a brief statement released this lunchtime, the Mayo TD said: "I wish to confirm that I have today lodged an appeal of my High Court legal action."

The jury in the longest-running libel trial in the history of the State found on 23 March that Ms Cooper-Flynn had encouraged a number of people to evade paying their taxes. They awarded no damages to Ms Cooper-Flynn, finding that her reputation had not suffered through RTÉ broadcasts in 1998.

Ms Cooper-Flynn had sued RTÉ, Charlie Bird and retired farmer, James Howard, for libel over allegations that she was encouraging tax evasion. On 5 April, the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Frederick Morris, rejected arguments put forward by Ms Cooper-Flynn's lawyers as "irrelevant". He then ordered her to pay the entire costs of the libel case, which it is estimated may reach £2m. Ms Cooper-Flynn subsequently lost the Fianna Fáil whip in the Dáil.

As a result of the libel case decision, the Fianna Fáil parliamentary voted in April at a four-hour meeting to remove the party whip from the Ms Cooper-Flynn. During the meeting, Ms Cooper-Flynn made a long speech asking for more time to consider the question of an appeal to the High Court decision. She dealt in considerable length with aspects of the case and reasserted her innocence, saying that she had not encouraged anyone to evade tax. Ms Cooper-Flynn also argued that the motion before the meeting could be prejudicial to any appeal she might make.