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High Court dismisses Noirin O'Sullivan's bid to sue newspaper

Summary

The High Court has dismissed an application by former Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan for an order allowing her to bring a defamation action against the Irish Examiner. Ms O'Sullivan, who served as Commissioner from 2014 to 2017, claimed the newspaper defamed her in an October 2016 article. The newspaper denied the article was defamatory and opposed her bid to extend the statutory time limit. Under the 2009 Defamation Act, litigants have 12 months to sue, though the court can extend this to two years. Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington refused the extension, ruling that Ms O'Sullivan's reasons for delay were insufficient to disapply the one-year limit. The judge noted that Ms O'Sullivan could have instituted proceedings within the statutory period and that her decision not to do so had consequences. The judge further stated that the prejudice to the newspaper in losing its limitation defence outweighed the prejudice to the plaintiff. The matter was adjourned for two weeks to allow the parties to consider the decision. The underlying article reported that two senior Gardaí, Supt Dave Taylor and Sgt Maurice McCabe, made statements under protected disclosure legislation. These allegations were raised in the Dáil by Michael Martin, leading to a Commission of Inquiry conducted by Mr Justice Peter Charleton. Ms O'Sullivan argued she was under intense strain until the tribunal concluded, while the newspaper maintained it published matters of significant public interest.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: High Court dismisses Noirin O'Sullivan's bid to sue newspaper. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• October 4th 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
• February 2017 Other
• September 2018 Other
• 2014 and 2017 Other
• 2018-11-07 Publication

Why: The judge said that Ms O'Sullivan had said she did not bring the proceedings any earlier than she did because the former commissioner did not believe herself to be in a position to consider the matter from the date of publication until the conclusion of the Disclosures Tribunal. CNI source report

Case subjects

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Stage Hearing Or Decision

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Read the original CNI report