Enoch Burke loses defamation case over Sunday Independent article

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Enoch Burke’s defamation action over a Sunday Independent article was dismissed by the High Court on 13 June 2024; the court later ordered him to pay the publisher’s legal costs, in a judgment published on 18 July 2024.

The case concerned an article published in October 2022 that said Burke had been moved to another cell in Mountjoy Prison for his own safety. Burke sued, saying it damaged his reputation; the defendants denied that it had injured his reputation and acknowledged minor errors. A correction published in January 2023 said he had been moved for operational reasons only, not for the reasons stated in the article.

The judge found the article’s words, in their ordinary and natural meaning, were incapable of injuring Burke’s reputation. After considering written submissions on costs, he ordered Burke to pay Mediahuis Ireland Ltd’s costs, including reserved costs and the costs of the written submissions.