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Eoghan Harris defamation claim against journalist should be heard by High Court, judge rules

Summary

In a decision on 28 April 2023, Mr Justice Paul Burns dismissed former Sunday Independent columnist Eoghan Harris's appeal against the Circuit Court's transfer of his defamation action against journalist Aoife Moore to the High Court. Harris had alleged that Moore's May 2021 tweet wrongly accused him of sending her sexualised messages on Twitter. Moore, along with journalist Allison Morris, had filed separate High Court claims that they were defamed by tweets from a Twitter account called "Barbara J. Pym," which Harris and others allegedly operated between 2020 and 2021. She claimed the tweets questioned her journalistic objectivity, accused her of partisan reporting for Sinn Féin, and used sexualised language. Harris denied these allegations. The judge ruled that both Harris's claim and Moore's counter‑claim should be tried together in the High Court, citing significant overlap and complexity, and ordered costs in favour of Moore while staying execution pending the cases' outcomes.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Eoghan Harris defamation claim against journalist should be heard by High Court, judge rules. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• May 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2020 and 2021 Other
• Christmas Other
• 2023-04-28 Publication

Why: Ms Moore, represented by Thomas Hogan SC and Conan Fegan BL instructed by Phoenix Law solicitors, claimed that because there was an overlap on the issues surrounding the claims, both cases should be heard together in the High Court. CNI source report

Case subjects

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Stage Appeal

Read the original CNI report