A judge has dismissed an appeal by former Sunday Independent columnist Eoghan Harris against the Circuit Court's decision to transfer his defamation action against journalist Aoife Moore to the High Court.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Paul Burns, confirming the transfer of Mr Harris' case to the High Court, said the matters to be addressed in both Mr Harris' action against Ms Moore, and her defamation claim against him, should be "tried at the same time, in the same venue, by the same court".
Mr Harris has claimed in proceedings he brought before the Circuit Court that he was defamed in a tweet posted by Ms Moore about him in early May 2021.
He claims that, in the post, she wrongly accused him of directly sending her sexualised messages on Twitter.
In her defence, she denies defaming Mr Harris in a tweet which she says was posted after it emerged Mr Harris was involved in an account which had posted allegedly defamatory material about her.
Ms Moore and another journalist, Allison Morris, have brought separate High Court proceedings against Mr Harris, claiming they were defamed in posts on a Twitter account called 'Barbara J. Pym', which was allegedly operated by Mr Harris and others on dates between 2020 and 2021.
Ms Moore claims she was defamed in those tweets which, she says, called into question her journalistic objectivity, implying her reporting was partisan in favour of Sinn Féin and the wider republican movement in Ireland. She also claims the tweets referred to her in a sexualised manner.
Mr Harris denies her claims. Mr Harris' action against Ms Moore was due to be heard before the Circuit Civil Court earlier this year.
Transfer
However, following a pre-trial application by Ms Moore's lawyers before Christmas, Judge John O'Connor ruled that Mr Harris' case should be transferred to the High Court.
Ms Moore, represented by Thomas Hogan SC and Conan Fegan BL, instructed by Phoenix Law solicitors, claimed that because there was an overlap on the issues surrounding the claims, both cases should be heard together in the High Court.
Represented by Remy Farrell SC, appearing with Hugh McDowell BL and instructed by solicitor Robert Dore, Mr Harris had argued his case should be heard separately, and before a Circuit Court judge.
In his ruling, confirming the Circuit Court’s decision, Mr Justice Burns directed that, upon transfer to the High Court, both sets of proceedings should be listed before the judge in charge of the defamation list for case management.
An application that the two claims be tried together should also be made.
Having considered the particular circumstances of each set of proceedings, and especially the circumstances of the Circuit Court proceedings, the judge said the High Court is the more appropriate tribunal to determine the matters raised in the Circuit Court proceedings.
The judge said he was satisfied that there is "a significant linkage and overlap between the two sets of proceedings". The complexity of the issues involves makes the High Court "a more appropriate tribunal," the judge added.
Mr Justice Burns said if the matters were not tried at the same time, in the same venue, by the same court, that such a multiplicity of proceedings would add to costs and take up more valuable court time than would otherwise be the case.
He added that he also accepted the undertaking given by Ms Moore’s lawyers that the proceedings will be prosecuted with expedition.
He awarded the costs of the appeal before him in favour of Ms Moore, but placed a stay on the execution of the costs order pending the outcome of the cases.
