From top: Jobstown trial aftermath (above); this morning’s Irish Times

This morning.

Despite the jury in the Jobstown trial returning a unanimous verdict of not guilty against the six men charged with the false imprisonment of former Tánaiste Joan Burton and her assistant Karen O’Connell…

…and the front page coverage of the verdict in The Irish Times this morning which focused on how  Solidarity TD Paul Murphy had been warned earlier this week by the DPP in relation to him tweeting about the trial…

And the same newspaper’s editorial saying:

“… the claim by supporters of the defendants that the charges were a politically motivated attempt to stifle protest should be treated with the derision it deserves.”

“… Campaigners produced partisan running commentary on the trial. Activists systematically used social media to criticise and impugn the motives of those who gave evidence.”

“… We were always asking a lot of jurors by expecting that they cloister themselves away for the duration of their service. In the age of Google, Facebook and Twitter, when everyone is a publisher and information is more accessible than ever, that expectation has become increasingly untenable.

But the Jobstown trial highlighted the challenge more sharply. By harnessing social media on such a scale, systematically chipping away at one of the pillars of our jury system, those campaigners have done themselves and their cause a great disservice.”

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