Cooper-Flynn hit with full charge in $2M libel suit

By Andrew Bushe

DUBLIN — The political and financial pressures on Fianna Fail TD Beverley Cooper-Flynn have sharply worsened as she has been hit with all of the £2 million costs of the longest libel action in legal history and the taoiseach has emphatically distanced himself and the party from her.

After a 28-day trial, a jury found on March 23 that the daughter of former Euro-Commissioner Padraig Flynn advised or encouraged a number of people to evade taxes and did not award her any damages after her libel action against RTE.

Though the jury found RTE had failed to prove claims that she had induced a County Louth farmer to dodge his taxes, the president of the High Court, Frederick Morris, ruled that she should pay all the costs of the seven weeks of hearings.

If the Mayo TD is declared a bankrupt, she will be excluded from membership of the 166-seat Dail.

Her political ambitions received another body blow when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern distanced himself and Fianna Fail from her. He made clear her days in the party were numbered.

He said tax evasion was wrong and encouraging others to evade taxes was equally wrong.

"The party take a very dim and a very serious view of all of this," he told RTE. "We have our rules and procedures, which will have to be followed."

Ahern, who referred to her as "Deputy Cooper-Flynn," said she had sought time to consider the situation and the possibility of an appeal. She has 21 days to lodge an appeal.

Several Fianna Fail TDs have called for her resignation from the party. She has already stepped down from membership of the high-profile financial watchdog body, the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee.

Cooper-Flynn is the latest of a number of Fianna Fail TDs who have been embroiled in financial scandals. The others are Ray Burke, Liam Lawlor, John Ellis and Denis Foley.