Two night club bouncers yesterday settled slander actions against RTÉ in the Circuit Civil Court.
Mr Norman Jason O'Connor and Mr Jonathan McGeoghan, whose addresses were not disclosed in court, had claimed RTÉ had defamed them in a Prime Time programme in 2000.
They alleged in proceedings initially taken out in the High Court that RTÉ had claimed certain Dublin night clubs had been guilty of turning away some members of the public on a racist basis.
In the programme two white people and two black people had in turn sought entrance to a number of Dublin night clubs. Two black men had been refused entry at two particular clubs.
Mr O'Connor and Mr McGeoghan, bouncers at two separate night clubs, had alleged they had been defamed by the television broadcast. Their claim had been remitted from the High Court to the Circuit Civil Court on the basis that that lower court could have awarded unlimited damages, generally a legal costs saving practice.
The President of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Esmond Smyth, was told by Mr Richard Keane, counsel for Mr McGeoghan, that time allowed for talks had been fruitful and the matter had been settled. He said Mr McGeoghan's case could be struck out with no order. "Terms have been agreed between the parties," he said.
Earlier, Mr Barney Quirke, counsel for Mr O'Connor, had indicated that his case could be struck out with no order regarding costs. No settlement details were disclosed.