It’s not often that life obliges with a tidy closure. But Catherine Murphy’s stepping down as co-leader of the Social Democrats just days before Denis O’Brien agreed in principle to cede control of his flagship business, Digicel, had an eerie symmetry. She was, in many ways, his nemesis. It’s almost certain Murphy took little personal pleasure in his financial fall: she doesn’t come across as one given to Schadenfreude.
But politically, the woman who drove scrutiny of a man who mesmerised so much of the body politic, could be forgiven a little grim satisfaction. It wasn’t easy: free speech and his finances were her focus.
In May 2015, O’Brien made an overt move on free speech. He took the Dáil committee on procedures and privileges to the High Court after it rejected his complaint that certain TDs had breached privilege rules in discussing matters already before the courts.
The move arose out of allegations about his finances, particularly in relation to Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) and the sale of Siteserv, made in the Dáil by Murphy, then an Independent TD, some of which proved to be inaccurate.
The reaction of O’Brien, himself a media owner, was not to simply correct the inaccuracies, but to send legal letters to media outlets, instructing them to refrain from any reporting on her comments. Since many media outlets were already in possession of legal letters from O’Brien, this had the desired effect initially while the media sought clarification from the court.
Murphy hearkens back to an era when feminists had to be street fighters to be heard. It’s hard to imagine a less likely street fighter than this warm, motherly woman, with the hesitant voice and eloquent eye
He then went to the High Court, where after six days, his complaint was dismissed. Six days, to coin a phrase, is a long time in politics. And although O’Brien did not sue her personally it would have been very damaging for Murphy had he won. There’s no doubt that in those six days, Murphy experienced the dread, so familiar to journalists, of waking every morning with the Damoclesian dagger of litigation looming over them.
When O’Brien challenged Dáil privilege, he had his usual Goliath-sized advantage of serried ranks of lawyers and publicists. All Murphy had to cleave to was the sling and stone of her convictions about the role of free speech in a democracy.
Murphy hearkens back to an era when feminists had to be street fighters to be heard. It’s hard to imagine a less likely street fighter than this warm, motherly woman, with the hesitant voice and eloquent eye. And the Dáil is not a street, but it is an arena where things can be said without fear of libel and where speakers have a measure of control.
And she spoke. The government – Fine Gael and their Labour coalition partners – sat like frightened mice as she took on one of the most powerful men in Ireland. The rising Fine Gael generation of Leo Varadkar showed solidarity, as did a shrunken Fianna Fáil.
Eventually, Michael Noonan, the then Fine Gael minister for finance, brought in a commission of investigation into IBRC and the Siteserv deal.Murphy founded the Social Democrats.
Even as she struggled with the accuracy of her sources’ information, which was given in good faith, she was resolute in her conviction that the public interest was served wherever it was revealed the common good was potentially sacrificed to the benefit of the powerful.
And she always had her sights on a bigger picture: the concentration of media ownership under O’Brien. “One must at this stage consider the extent of media ownership is an issue in this contest,” she said. Murphy was, at times, a lone voice crying in the wilderness. The Labour Party, which held the Communications portfolio, was spectacularly shy about the consequences of the concentration of media ownership under O’Brien. Likewise the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland which satisfied itself with the pronunciation that “Denis O’Brien does not control INM”.
Murphy was fearless. She spoke about the “chilling effect on Irish public discourse and the threat of litigation which hung over the shoulders of journalists and editors”. She spoke about the numerous cases taken by O’Brien against publications and journalists. She spoke for all the decent journalists trying to do their work in the public interest who face massive difficulties.
The Social Democrats’ appeal is they are not Sinn Féin. Holding impropriety up to the light is what they do – and did – best
Today those difficulties, that same chill, emanate from Sinn Féin which is increasingly taking defamation cases and complaints against media outlets and politicians. Freedom of speech is the first casualty when law courts become the battleground. Fear is the main weapon. Fear of costly litigation leads to more insidious fears, like the chilling effect of anticipating the thought processes of the powerful or the capricious, which finally leads to paralysis.
After seven years, the Commission of Investigation into the sale of Siteserv found that the transaction was “so tainted by impropriety and wrongdoing” as to be commercially unsound. The courage of one woman was largely instrumental in holding that impropriety up to the light. O’Brien pointed out last December that the commission “clearly established there was no basis in fact to serious allegations made by Catherine Murphy about me under Dáil privilege”.
O’Brien’s fortunes were in decline until last Wednesday, when he finally agreed to become a minority shareholder in the empire he had built.
[ O’Brien finally runs out of road at Digicel as creditors swoop to capitaliseOpens in new window ]
Murphy and Róisín Shortall’s founding of the Social Democrats fundamentally arose from their distaste for coalitions and political mergers; in their case Democratic Left with the Labour Party. Though from different sides, it’s clear they feared dilution of their principles.
The siren song of mergers or coalitions may well be the first challenge for Social Democrats’ new leader, Holly Cairns. Her selection saw the party ratings shoot up in the latest polls, which is a reflection of the goodwill for the party’s founders. But soon Sinn Féin will come courting. The Social Democrats’ appeal is they are not Sinn Féin. Holding impropriety up to the light is what they do – and did – best. Murphy leaves a legacy to be cherished.