Former presidential candidate, Peter Casey, issued defamatory proceedings for the untrue and defamatory postings on Facebook. The defamatory postings were made in April 2023 to 2,000 followers of the person who put up the post.
Casey ran in the local elections. He said in his election literature that he had been an activist for years and stood up against ‘draconian lockdowns 4G and 5G, austerity and undocumented and uncontrolled immigration’.
When the Ukraine war broke out, Casey decided to convert a bed and breakfast he owned in Buncrana, into accommodation for women and children fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The defamatory post claimed that workers at Casey’s building were ‘moving unvetted people around like cattle and then warehousing them in office cubicles for profit is akin to human trafficking and inhumane.’ After a fire occurred on the property, the defendant posted a picture of damage to the property complaining that the matter had not been reported in the mainstream media.
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Mr. Justice David Nolan considered the statements made by the defendant and ruled that they were untrue and defamatory stating that they were ‘very stressful, hurtful and upsetting’ to Mr. Casey and his family. Judge Nolan determined that the words posted were untrue and, by their natural and ordinary meaning, were defamatory to Mr. Casey’s reputation. He consequently awarded €120,000 in general damages and €20,000 in aggravated damages.
The judge noted that the defamatory posts remained online for nine months after the court ordered their removal in November last year. He considered this as a breach of the court order and contempt.
Peter Casey v Kim McMenamin High Court (Mr. Justice David Nolan) 13 December 2024 [2024] IEHC 705