On 16 March 2007, a man was acquitted at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of "threatening to kill or cause serious harm" to Paul Williams.
[10] The Sunday World took out an injunction in the High Court to prevent him from taking up his new position until his three months' notice to leave had expired.
[12][better source needed] The General, Williams' 1995 biography of Martin Cahill, was made into a 1998 movie directed by John Boorman.
His 2014 book Murder Inc prompted protests from some Limerick residents who said it promoted an outdated negative stereotype of the city as crime-ridden.
[10] Williams also ghost-wrote Secret Love, Phyllis Hamilton's 1995 account of her 20-year affair with Michael Cleary, a high-profile Catholic priest.
[18] As a guest on Liveline in 2007, Williams denied Christy Burke's allegation that he was trying to link Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA with the criminal underworld.
Then criminals Alan Bradley and John Daly phoned in (the latter from Portlaoise Prison) to deny Williams' claim that they were feuding with each other.