A jury in a High Court defamation action taken by two lawyers against businessman Denis O’Brien is expected to begin its deliberations on Friday.
Darragh Mackin and Gavin Booth, solicitors at Belfast firm Phoenix Law, claim Mr O’Brien and his spokesman James Morrissey implied in an October 2016 press release that they acted for and received payment from the IRA.
The solicitors say this arises from a sentence in the statement that reads: “Sinn Féin/IRA certainly got the report they paid for.”
Mr O’Brien made the statement in response to a report on media ownership in Ireland. Mr Mackin and Mr Booth were credited as co-authors of the report, which was commissioned by then-Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan.
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At the time of the report, Mr O’Brien owned substantial stakes in Irish media companies.
Mr O’Brien and Mr Morrissey deny the material defamed the solicitors or means what the solicitors allege. It is their case that the words mean the report was not fair or balanced, and served to further Sinn Féin’s political agenda.
The jury must decide what the meaning of the words complained of mean.
If they agree with the solicitors’ pleaded meaning, they must then assess what damages should be awarded to compensate damage to their reputations.
The solicitors’ side are seeking an award of general and aggravated damages.
Delivering his charge to the jury on Thursday, Mr Justice Tony O’Connor said the jurors, as reasonable people, were sole arbiters of the meaning of the words.
In his closing submissions, Darren Lehane SC, appearing with barrister Joe Holt for the defendants, and instructed by Meagher Solicitors, listed various facts that he said his side’s pleaded meaning was based on − including that Ms Boylan commissioned the report, and that Ms Boylan and Sinn Féin had advocated for legislation placing limits on media ownership in Ireland.
He added that the solicitors’ side did not require his clients to prove those facts.
He asked the jurors to keep an open mind when considering the question they must decide, and to keep in mind the defendants’ alternative meanings.
In his closing submissions, Mark Harty SC, appearing with Tom Hogan SC and barrister Conan Fegan for the solicitors, and instructed by Johnsons Solicitors, said the O’Brien side wanted the jury to believe the word “IRA” didn’t exist in the statement.
Mr O’Brien and Mr Morrissey decided to make the press release “as poisonous as possible” by making reference to the IRA, Mr Harty said. He said that had the word “IRA” not appeared in the statement his clients wouldn’t have sued.
“The reality is the words exist. You can’t make them disappear,” he said.
He said the defamation wasn’t light or casual – rather it was the kind of defamation that gets lawyers killed in Northern Ireland, pointing to the murders of Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson.
