McKay sued by property tycoon
Developer claims Nama scandal ex-MLA damaged his reputation
A FORMER Sinn Fein MLA is being sued by a leading property developer for allegedly un- lawfully conspiring against him with the loyalist blogger, Jamie Bryson.
Daithi McKay has been accused by Paddy Kearney of damaging his personal and business reputation and causing him financial loss.
The writ was forwarded yesterday to
lawyers acting for the former politician, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.
Mr McKay (left) resigned as an MLA in August amid allegations that he set up a back channel on Twitter to “coach” Mr Bryson shortly before the loyalist gave evidence to the Stormont Nama inquiry which the Sinn Fein man chaired.
LEADING property developer Paddy Kearney is suing former Sinn Fein MLA Daithi McKay for allegedly unlawfully conspiring against him with the loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson.
In the landmark legal action, the businessman is accusing Mr McKay of damaging his personal and business reputation and causing him financial loss.
The Belfast Telegraph can reveal that the writ was forwarded yesterday to lawyers acting for the former politician, who just last week announced that he had quit Sinn Fein.
When contacted about the legal development last night Mr McKay declined to comment.
He resigned as an MLA in August amid allegations that he set up a back channel on Twitter to “coach” Mr Bryson shortly before the loyalist gave evidence to the Nama inquiry of Stormont’s finance committee, which the Sinn Fein man chaired.
It is understood that Mr Kearney’s legal team has not ruled out action against others who may have been involved in what it describes as “totally unfounded and unjustified personal attacks on our client’s hard-earned reputation”.
In the writ, which was lodged in Belfast High Court on Tuesday evening, Mr Kearney claims that through “unlawful conspiracy” and “acts of targeted malice” against him, Mr McKay is “guilty of misfeasance in public office”.
Claims that the Sinn Fein MLA “coached” Mr Bryson emerged as Twitter messages between the loyalist, Mr McKay, and another Sinn Fein member, Thomas O’Hara, were leaked in August.
The writ alleges that Mr McKay “unlawfully conspired” with Mr Bryson by “emails, texts and social media messages” to manipulate the finance committee so that the loyalist’s evidence could be heard in open session.
It also alleges that he damaged Mr Kearney’s personal and business reputation through the “publication of libels and malicious falsehoods and through the provision of false evidence to the committee of Jamie Bryson” on September 23, 2015.
The property developer appeared before the finance committee six weeks later in order to challenge the loyalist’s allegations. The writ alleges that at this meeting on November 4, 2015, Mr McKay facilitated “the false and misleading questioning” of Mr Kearney.
It claims: “The defendant by his participation in the unlawful conspiracy and by acts of targeted malice perpetrated against the plaintiff was further guilty of misfeasance in public office.”
While evidence given to a Stormont committee is normally protected by parliamentary privilege — meaning the speaker can’t be sued for defamation — alleging malicious intent, as Mr Kearney appears to have done, opens up the way for legal proceedings.
In a statement last night to the Belfast Telegraph the property developer’s solicitor Paul Tweed confirmed that a writ had been issued against Mr McKay “in relation to the damage caused to our client’s reputation and consequential financial and other loss suffered by him”.
Mr Tweed added: “We have been instructed to vigorously pursue this litigation. We are actively considering further legal proceedings against other potential parties in relation to what have been totally unfounded and unjustified personal attacks on our client’s hard-earned reputation built over many years during which he supported and created much-needed employment for the Northern Irish economy.”
Mr Kearney (62) is a former joiner from west Belfast who became one of Northern Ireland’s leading property developers.
Mr Bryson alleged that Peter Robinson exerted undue influence to secure a favourable “sweetheart deal” for him when he moved to refinance his Nama-controlled loans after they were bought by US investment firm Cerberus.
But the property developer rejected these allegations as “unfounded” and “scurrilous”.
He said that all his dealings had been totally transparent.
One of the so-called Maple Ten investors, his company Kilmona Holdings owns the Belfast boutique hotel Ten Square.
Mr Kearney’s previous projects include high-profile shopping centres in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
He is planning to develop a series of huge office buildings across Belfast in coming years. Kilmona is starting a £50m development beside Central Station in the Market area of the city. It will build around 300,000sq ft of office space, spread across four blocks.