TV3 apologises to Phil Hogan and pays damages

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

TV3 and the Irish Daily Mail apologised to EU Commissioner Phil Hogan in the High Court and paid undisclosed damages and costs. The proceedings were reported on 12 July 2016.

TV3 said comments made by Vincent Browne during the “Tonight with Vincent Browne” programme on 20 May 2013 stated that Phil Hogan had engaged in racist behaviour and suggested he was prejudiced against the Travelling community and had intervened with the local authority to prevent housing being allocated to Travellers. The station accepted that the comments were untrue, unwarranted and defamatory of Phil Hogan’s reputation.

The Irish Daily Mail said articles published on 26 and 27 September had implied that Phil Hogan, then minister for the environment, community and local government, was prejudiced against the Travelling community and had intervened to prevent the allocation of housing to Travellers. The newspaper accepted that the articles were unfair, misleading and seriously defamatory, apologised and confirmed it had paid damages and legal costs.

In a statement read by his solicitor, Phil Hogan said he was pleased to have been vindicated by the apologies. He said the coverage had wrongly alleged that representations he made as a TD to a local authority suggested he was prejudiced against the Travelling community.