Vacuum case dismissed

A Belfast high court judge has dismissed arts magazine The Vacuum's lawsuit accusing the Belfast City Council of infringing upon the organisation's human rights. Publishers Stephen Hackett and Richard West claimed the city council was restricting the magazine's freedom of expression when it withheld funding from The Vacuum, after it published material that some of its members deemed “blasphemous”. Instead, on Thursday 4 May, the High Court ruled in favour of the city council.

In 2004, The Vacuum stood to receive a £3300 arts council grant, only to have it withheld after the city council objected to the tone and content of the magazine's “God” and “Satan” issues. The city council chose to withhold the grant from The Vacuum until it issued a formal apology “for any offence which may have been caused to Members of the council and citizens of the city by previous publications”.

Councillor Bernie Kelly, chairperson of the city council's Arts Sub Committee said, “The council's position on this matter has been completely validated by the decision of the High Court. There is no human right to be funded by ratepayers for the purpose of publishing material that is offensive or which demeans the religious beliefs of others.”

Hackett and West are going to appeal the judgment. The incident has not affected The Vacuum's ability to publish. And according to Hackett, the council's attitude towards the magazine has only slightly changed The Vacuum's content. “All of this hasn't had much effect on the material we publish,” Hackett said. “Except we do run a few more jokes about the city council now. We know they can't do anything to us as long as what we say doesn't go beyond the laws of libel.”

Donald Mahoney