Tánaiste and Justice Minister to examine implications of case against Irish quarry activist after UN ‘SLAPP' warning
The issue arose in relation to an environmental activist who made a complaint of harassment against a quarry company.
Details were revealed in the Irish Independent last week and raised in the Dáil yesterday by Aontú TD Peadar Tóibín.
The quarry company last month applied for a discovery order instructing gardaí to hand over the activist's complaint for use in a defamation case against him.
Gardaí did not object and the order was granted at Trim Circuit Court but is now under appeal to the High Court. It was granted despite intervention by the United Nations special rapporteur on environmental defenders, who wrote to the Government and Chief State Solicitor's Office urging them to oppose it.
Rapporteur Michel Forst warned the order had widespread implications.
'If members of the public cannot complain to the police without fear that the alleged perpetrator will get access to their confidential police complaint, this will have a serious chilling effect on law and order in that State,' he wrote.
'It will also enable perpetrators to continue their intimidation and harassment with impunity.'
Mr Tóibín used Dáil question time to ask the Government to get involved.
'Will you demand that the Chief State Solicitor defend the justice system or at the very least would the Minister for Justice meet with the target?' he asked.
Mr Harris said he was not aware of Mr Forst's correspondence.
ADVERTISEMENT
'But I will make myself aware of it now that you have brought it to my attention,' he said. 'I'll ask Minister O'Callaghan to consider your comments and revert to you directly.'
The parties in the case were not named in the Dáil but they are Keegan Quarries and its principal, John Keegan, and Kieran Cummins, founder of the Eco Advocacy environmental NGO, all based in Co Meath.
Mr Cummins became known to the rapporteur's office through his work on planning breaches in relation to quarries.
Mr Forst reminded the Government and Chief State Solicitor that they, the gardaí and the courts had obligations under the Aarhus Convention on Environmental Justice to safeguard environmental defenders.
He wrote that environmental defenders must be protected against so-called SLAPP orders – Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation. Mr Tóibín said he believed the target in this case was being subjected to a SLAPP.
Along with the defamation proceedings, Keegan Quarries has initiated proceedings seeking damages for alleged trespass by Mr Cummins.
Each side denies all allegations made by the other.
Mr Tóibín said he had already raised concerns about SLAPPs with two ministers for justice.
'These litigations are designed never to be heard, threaten financial ruin and completely tie up individuals,' he said. 'The aim is to shut campaigners up.'
Mr Harris said he expected the issue of SLAPPs would be addressed in the upcoming revision of the defamation legislation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
Rent reforms: Coalition's big cure for rental market somewhat diluted by mixed messages
Story of the Week The Government presented it as a coup, something that came as a surprise to the Opposition, that would remove any basis for attack. For weeks, there were rumours that the rent pressure zones (RPZs) were about to come a cropper, and the Government was going to scrap, or seriously curtail their use, in a bid to attract big finance to reboot the construction of apartment blocks, which has been moribund for many months. And yes, the news that the RPZs were being extended across the State did serve to blunt Opposition attacks. After all, has the Opposition not been calling for months to save them? And applying them everywhere made sense, given that 24 of the 31 councils, and 111 of the 166 local electoral areas, were already in RPZ zones. Curbing the 'no-fault' notice to quit was also a smart move in heading off the Opposition. READ MORE It was the subsequent policy announcement that was to prove more tricky. The new distinction between small and corporate landlords. The fact that there will be different rules for new tenancies in the future, which will be set at market rate, with increases measured against inflation. The right of landlords to reset rent after six years. Those new rules were designed to attract institutional investors back to the Irish market. They wish to have predictable returns on their investment, and it is clear that RPZ was a big impediment for at least some of those. It's clear that the purpose of the change was to strike a balance between protecting the rights of tenants (already paying painfully high rent) and those of investors who are badly needed to to be part of the solution. The policy, or the communication of it, was not thought through, however. When detailed questions were asked, there were conflicting and ambiguous answers coming from different Ministers. Would existing tenants in RPZ be subject to that six-year rent review? It took a day for that to be clarified, with the Opposition claiming some hasty revision took place. Would announcing the start date of March 2026 encourage landlords to hold off renting properties and then benefit from higher rents from next year? James Browne ended up taking some flak. He's not the world's best communicator but he's a doer. That said, it's going to take a long time before we know if this measure will make any difference. Elsewhere, Stephen Collins is writing about the tortuously slow pace of any development or project in Ireland . He adjudges this to be a hard decision. Time will tell on that. But many more hard decisions need to be taken to bridge that yawning gap between supply and demand. Bust up The first item on the agenda of any Irish political party is the split. And the smaller and more marginal the party, the bigger the chasm. Our colleague Ronan McGreevy brought us this intriguing report this week about 30 activists leaving People Before Profit because – wait for it – it had become too mainstream and establishment. The walkout has been led by Dublin city councillor Madeleine Johansson. There was some jaw-dropping rhetoric in it. The 'fake democracy of the Dáil' should be replaced by a 32-county workers' republic. 'Assemblies of workers in workplaces and communities elect delegates, who are recallable, to a workers' national assembly.' Wow. To effect, one working-class revolution is required involving mass protests and strikes leading to workplace occupations and a challenge to the old State. Democracy in action? Well, not quite. One of the bases of the objection is that PBP would consider joining that bastion of the establishment, Sinn Féin, in Government. To quote the statement, a Sinn Féin-led government would 'coalesce with the establishment and leave untouched the real government, the permanent government – the State bureaucracy, army chiefs and head Guards'. That's what you call sweeping changes. Not that Paul Murphy is overly concerned right now, having been detained in Egypt while on the Great March to Rafah. That's all very well but does any of this affect me? It happened so long ago, 36 years ago, in 1989, that it seems historical. But the circumstances of the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane by loyalist gunmen have suppurated like a wound for more than three decades. Today's announcement by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, is a big moment. He confirmed the independent chair and assessors for the public inquiry into the murder of Mr Finucane. And so it is important. As Taoiseach Micheál Martin said in a statement: 'This is the final outstanding inquiry from those that were recommended by Judge Cory in 2004, and it is positive that it can now move to beginning its important and substantive work. 'Today's announcement highlights the importance that a way forward is found to comprehensively address all the outstanding cases of the Troubles.' Banana skin The National Shared Services Office (NSSO) is usually a backwater for news stories but on Tuesday all that changed when Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers held an unexpected media conference. As Cormac McQuinn reported, pension payment calculations for some Ministers, including current serving ones, might have been overstated, or understated, up to the tune of €30,000. It was also revealed that a pool of 13,000 retired civil servants who were on work-sharing arrangements are to have their pension deductions checked for underpayments. There is also an issue in relation to the pensions of 30 retired senior civil servants. One of them could owe as much as €280,000 as a result of NSSO errors. Now the Public Accounts Committee is taking an interest in it. This could get very sticky for the NSSO. Winners and losers Winner: James Browne, for pushing through a hard political decision. Loser: James Browne, for failing to communicate clearly enough what it did and did not do. The Big Read Pat Leahy and Jack Horgan-Jones are examining in detail the background and the implications of this week's big RPZ announcement. Ellen Coyne has an interview with a grieving mother who has serious questions for Children's Health Ireland. And, of course, Miriam Lord's Saturday column. Hear here Friday's Inside Politics podcast looks at Minister for Housing James Browne's announcement of plans to change the rules around rent pressure zones (RPZs). Will the Government's gamble on investment pay off? And why was the roll-out so haphazard?
The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘Shambles' rent reforms move blasted as Govt accused of ‘making it up as they go along' amid landlord price hike fears
THE Government's rent reforms have again come under heavy fire after no Dail time was scheduled for the emergency legislation next week. The decision, which was heavily blasted, was made despite claims that landlords will jack up prices before the regulations change. 2 The Government has been accused of 'making it up as they go along' Credit: Getty Images - Getty Part of the plan will see the two per cent cap on However, there are fears that landlords in the 11 counties that are currently not designated rent pressure zones will pump up their prices before the Following this criticism, the Government announced that they were introducing the new rent reforms in two separate pieces of legislation with the rent pressure zone extension to be dealt with in an emergency bill as soon as possible. READ MORE IN NEWS Coalition leaders denied claims that they were caught out by the blunder with Tanaiste However, the Labour housing spokesman Conor Sheehan claimed the Government were 'making it up as they go along' with rental reforms that he labelled 'a shambles.' He said: 'It's crazy that in an effort to calm the horses the Tánaiste was clearly making it up as he went along to avoid the ire of the Opposition. Most read in Irish News 'Well, I have news for him and for the Housing Minister, their disastrous treatment of renters will not be forgotten for a very long time.' Sinn Fein chief whip Padraig MacLochlainn said: 'The failure to include legislation for next week's Dail business demonstrates once again the shambles at the heart of the government's housing policy.' Sinn Fein housing spokesman Eoin O Broin reacts to record number of homeless people Housing Minister James Browne today defended his rental reforms and claimed that 'there were a few moving parts' to the legislation. He said: 'There's always going to be a challenge around the complexity of doing anything like this, there's no one size fits all to bring a solution to this kind of complex situation.' The Irish Property Owners Association today also took aim at the Government rental reforms as they claimed the changes could hit house prices and damage tourism. The IPOA also claimed that landlords who currently have vacant properties are enticed to keep their property empty until the new changes kick in on March 1 next year when they will be able to rise their rents to market level. 2 The Government's big rental reform strategy was launched this week Credit: Getty Images - Getty
RTÉ News
10 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Two-state solution conference postponed after Iran attack
A United Nations conference co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia aimed at forging a roadmap towards a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians has been postponed after Israel attacked Iran, two sources said. A Western diplomatic source in Saudi Arabia said that the conference would be postponed partially due to Israel's attacks on Iran. A second source familiar said some delegations from the Middle East would not or could not come due to developments. Earlier, Ireland received a diplomatic cable from the US urging it not to participate in the conference next week. It is understood that the démarche has been sent to all countries attending the conference. However, speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said that Ireland will be participating in the conference despite a cable from the US. "Just to be very clear Ireland absolutely will be attending and participating fully in the two-state conference due to take place in the UN and of course the United States of America has every right to convey its views in relation to foreign policy," he said. Mr Harris added: "But we also, by the way, have every right to have our foreign policy and what's happening at the moment in Gaza is genocide. "There are children being left to starve and a two-state solution is further away than it ever has been. "And now is actually the time, not for diplomatic cables, but for leadership, for leadership, to make sure the starving children can get the food, much of which is parked in Jordan and to help bring about an end to the horrific genocidal activity," he said. The Tánaiste added that it is the "very strong view of the Irish people" that end Israel's attacks on Gaza. "It's the very strong view of the Irish Government and we've every right to convey our foreign policy position, and I think the United States is well aware of our position which I must say is now the position of so many countries right across the world, who are just utterly horrified at what they're seeing on their television screens and hearing about." Taoiseach Micheál Martin was due to travel to New York to participate in the meeting before it was postponed. Delegates were to discuss ways of establishing a two-state solution which would create a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem alongside Israel. On Tuesday, the US sent a cable claiming that countries recognising a Palestinian state and taking "anti-Israel actions" - such as sanctions and boycotts - would be seen as acting against US interests and could yield diplomatic consequences. "The United States opposes the implied support of the conference for potential actions including boycotts and sanctions on Israel as well as other punitive measures," the cable read. The message also claimed the conference undermined US efforts with Egypt and Qatar to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and free Israeli captives held hostage by Hamas.
