A Kerry Minister of State has secured an interlocutory court injunction over defamatory posts online about him by a Knocknagoshel woman.
At Tralee Circuit Court Judge Ronan Munro granted the injunction to deputy Michael Healy-Rae against Michelle Keane.
The application was under Section 33 of the Defamation Act, meaning the allegations themselves cannot be reported.
It related to posts Ms Keane made on social media, which Mr Healy-Rae alleged are defamatory to his character.
In his ruling Judge Ronan Munro outlined that a large sum of paperwork had been issued in relation to this case, and he spent several hours reviewing it.
He said Michelle Keane was given the opportunity to find proof of her allegations against Michael Healy-Rae, however, adjudged the evidence submitted did not provide proof of the statements, and a lot of irrelevant material had been produced.
Judge Munro noted that Ms Keane issued subpoenas in the belief she could cross examine these individuals, but advised those individuals would only be able to provide direct evidence and not a cross examination.
He summarised some material in Ms Keane’s affidavit, including that Mr Healy-Rae is a political opponent and claimed he made false and damaging statements about her in the Dáil.
Judge Munro outlined that the statements and contents of her publications were sensational and utterly lacked balance.
He ruled they were devoid of nuance and no responsible attempts had been been made to distinguish fact, suspicion and allegation.
The judge found her liable in relation to six of the statements made and that no facts justified what she was saying.
He also noted there were up to 60 pages of comments from social media issued to the court; adding comments online from unidentified people are not proof, and statements agreeing with her on social media don’t make what she’s saying true.
Following the ruling, Barrister for Mr Healy-Rae, Elizabeth Murphy, outlined over 10 posts and publications to be taken down within seven days, upon agreement.
Judge Munro spoke to Ms Keane and said she has a right to responsibly post online, and it’s not an order to take down everything, except the defamatory matters; and advised to err on the side of caution going forward.
Ms Keane replied that she understands the ruling and she is going to be appealing it to the high court, which Judge Munro agreed she was fully entitled to do.
The judge said he’ll defer ruling on costs until he sees the full situation and adjourned this until June 24th.
