McDonagh appeal is settled

AN APPEAL over a €900,000 defamation award was settled today just ten minutes before a seven-judge Supreme Court was about to deliver its decision on whether the award should stand.

Five of the seven judges had prepared written judgments for the appeal and refused applications not to give those judgments in light of the settlement.

The judge said the judgments would be published but the figure which they had recommended should replace the €900,000 award would be blacked out when the judgments are released later today. The majority said the €900,000 was excessive and should be set aside.

The appeal arose out of a 2008 High Court jury award to Sligo man Martin McDonagh over a 1999 Sunday World article labelling him a “Traveller drug king”. The jury found he had been defamed by being called a drugg dealer and loan shark and awarded him €900,000.

He received €90,000 of the award as a condition of the court allowing the newspaper to appeal the decision.

In 2015, the Court of Appeal said the jury decision was perverse and found that Mr McDonagh was a drug dealer.

Mr McDonagh then appealed to the Supreme Court which said the appeal court was incorrect and its order must be reversed in full.

Following arguments from both sides about how the case should now proceed, the Supreme Court sat today to give judgment.

Just before they did however, Declan Doyle SC, for Mr McDonagh said the case had been “settled ten minutes ago” and he apologised to the court for putting it to so much work.

Asked by Chief Justice Susan Denham how long the case had been going on, Mr Doyle said 17 years. “And ten minutes ago you settle it”, a clearly annoyed Chief Justice said.

In reply to questions from the other judges, Mr Doyle said the settlement, as in any settlement, is about about the management of risk and in this case there was enormous risk for both sides. He understood comments from the judges about the public interest issue in the case.

He asked that the court did not deliver its judgment in light of the settlement.

Eoin McCullough SC, for Sunday Newspapers, publishers of the Sunday World, agreed and said he was also conscious of the public interest issue and the more general interest of his clients, but he did not wish to resile from the agreement made with the other side.

Following an adjournment to consider what to do, the Chief Justice said the court had decided to deliver its judge which would be available later with the substituted award figure redacted. She said she had found the €900,000 was exceexcessive and a fair and reasreasonable sum would be far leless.

MMr Justice Donal O’Donnellnell said his judgment was in agagreement with the Chief JustJustice and with that of Ms Jus JusticeMr ElizabethJustice WilliamDunne. McMcKechnie said he had foufound the failure to the jurjury to answer one of the ququestions in the issue papeper put before it during ththe trial - as to whether MrM McDonagh’s reputationtion was damaged havhaving regard to its first answer on all the allegations about him - was vital in the case. He would remit the case back for hearing to the High Court and also found the award was excessive.

Mr Justice John MacMenamin said he agreed with Mr Justice McKechnie’s judgment and found the role of the jury to be of fundamental. However, he expressed no view in relation to the amount of the award and the matter should be sent back before a jury.

Ms Justice Dunne said, in her written judgment, she found the award was excessive, should be set aside and substituted with another figure. However, she said, this should only happen in exceptional circumstances and this case was one of those.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton said he agreed with the Chief Justice, Mr Justice O’Donnell and Ms Justice Dunne. He had not agreed that the figure for substituted damages should be redacted but out of consideration would not mention the figure.

tM Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley also agreed with the majority judgment.

The original award was against the Sunday World arose out of a story it carried after gardai seized IR£500,000 worth of cannabis and amphetamines in August, 1999, in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo. It was published during Mr McDonagh’s seven day detention for questioning in connection with that seizure.

Mr McDonagh denied any involvement in drugs and was ultimately released without charge. He claimed the story tore up his family and led to him being shunned in Sligo.

The Sunday World denied libel and pleaded the article was true.