Former TD Declan Breathnach settles libel case out of court and issues apology and settlement to Sinn Fein leader
SINN Féin president Mary Lou McDonald has received an apology and an undisclosed financial settlement from a former Fianna Fáil TD as part of the settlement of defamation proceedings.
Ms McDonald sued Declan Breathnach in the High Court over comments on Twitter in which she alleged he portrayed her as condoning the murders of gardaí.
The former Louth TD initially planned to fight the case.
However, Mr Justice Charles Meenan was told yesterday the matter had been settled on confidential terms and that Mr Breathnach deeply regretted his comments.
A statement of apology from Mr Breathnach was read out by his counsel, Darren Lehane.
‘On October 11, 2018 I published a statement on Twitter concerning Mary Lou McDonald in which I wrongly accused Ms McDonald of being a hypocrite and someone who condoned the murders of members of An Garda Síochána,’ the statement said.
‘I deeply regret that I made these unfounded and damaging accusations and I retract them in full.
‘I unreservedly apologise to Ms McDonald for the upset and distress caused by my comments and for my unjustified attack on her reputation.’
Ms McDonald’s action against Mr Breathnach, who lost his seat in the general election in February, centred on Twitter posts on the day the Disclosures Tribunal published its report on the treatment of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
Ms McDonald posted a tweet saying Sgt McCabe had been ‘repulsively denigrated’.
She added: ‘Shame on those who set out to destroy him.’
Mr Breathnach responded on Twitter asking Ms McDonald what she had to say about ‘your compatriates [sic] association with those involved in the murder’ of three named gardaí. Among those mentioned in the tweet were Garda Tony Golden, who was murdered by a dissident republican in 2015, and Sgt Patrick Morrissey, who was murdered by the INLA in 1985.
In her proceedings, Ms McDonald alleged the words used by Mr Breathnach meant her sympathy for Sgt McCabe and condemnation of those who set out to destroy him was ‘disingenuous and insincere’.
She claimed his tweet meant she failed to speak out against the murders of members of the force by dissident republicans and criminal gangs, and that she condoned such killings and was a hypocrite.
In defence papers filed last year, lawyers for Mr Breathnach denied his tweet was defamatory and the case appeared set to go to trial.
However, Mr Breathnach’s apology and other undisclosed terms of settlement mean that will not now be the case.
Ms McDonald’s solicitor Laura Cunningham said her client had been left with ‘no alternative’ but to take the legal action and was ‘not prepared to tolerate false and malicious accusations’.