The High Court has refused to extend the deadline for Catherine Logan to pursue defamation claims over communications made in August 2021 concerning a dispute involving privately owned lodges at the Johnstown Estate.
Logan, who lives in Malahide and has served on the board of the Jack and Jill Foundation, sued Peter Wilson and David Godwin over two emails and a telephone call made on August 3, 2021. The communications were directed to people at the charity and allegedly linked Logan to harassment and other conduct towards private lodge owners at the Johnstown Estate.
Defamation proceedings normally have to be brought within one year. Logan issued her plenary summons on August 2, 2023 and asked the High Court to extend the limitation period for the 2021 publications to two years.
She said her principal reason for waiting was concern about causing disruption or reputational damage to the Jack and Jill Foundation while the charity was under pressure during the Covid-19 pandemic. She also referred to demands arising from home-schooling her three children.
Mr Justice Oisín Quinn found those explanations insufficient. The charity-related concern had, on Logan’s own account, ceased by March 2023 at the latest, while the home-schooling issue had ended earlier. Proceedings were still not issued until shortly after another allegedly defamatory email was sent by Wilson in July 2023.
The court also placed weight on prejudice caused by delay. Godwin was first notified of the claim more than two years after the alleged phone call and did not receive details of what he was alleged to have said until August 2024. His claim that he could no longer remember the precise conversation was considered entirely plausible.
Logan’s separate claim concerning Wilson’s July 2023 email remains within time and is unaffected by this ruling. The court also noted that the earlier communications may potentially be relevant to issues such as alleged malice or an injunction at any later trial, subject to argument there.
The extension application was refused, with costs and the precise form of order left for further submissions.