Former GAA player finally pays compo for assault on reporter in Four Courts
A former Cavan GAA footballer who assaulted a court reporter after demanding that he not report on his debt case has finally paid the compensation ordered by a judge over two years ago.
Eddie Óg O'Reilly was convicted in 2023 of assaulting journalist Ray Managh, now aged 82, in the Four Courts in 2018.
The case was delayed on a number of occasions for administrative reasons and after O'Reilly's legal team said their client could not deal with the stress and anxiety caused by the case.
O'Reilly, who has US citizenship, went to work in America after the attack, but was arrested by Garda Mick McGrath, of the Bridewell garda station, in Dublin Airport in 2019 when he was returning to Ireland.
O'Reilly, from Kilcogy, Co Cavan, pleaded not guilty to the attack.
After he was found guilty, Judge John Hughes characterised O'Reilly's evidence that he was terrified for his life due to Mr Managh and news photographers chasing him through the streets of Dublin as 'delusional'.
'The reporting of civil and criminal cases goes back hundreds of years — it is a valuable function in society and needs to be protected,' Judge Hughes said.
Court reporter Ray Managh was assaulted by Eddie Óg O'Reilly in 2018. Photo: Collins Courts
O'Reilly was given a nine-month suspended sentence for the offence. He was ordered to pay a fine of €2,000 and attend an anger management course.
The judge also ordered him to pay Mr Managh €3,000 in compensation, which the reporter requested be paid directly to the cancer research unit at Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin.
The assault took place after O'Reilly was in court trying to prevent the repossession of a €500,000 investment apartment that he and his brother Michael had got into arrears on.
After that hearing, O'Reilly followed Mr Managh out of the court and badgered him not to report on the case.
When told 'no', he shouldered the journalist, then 75, into a lift and violently pinned him against a wall until he could get his notebook.
The notebook was taken and never returned.
Mr Managh was able to write the story despite the assault.
O'Reilly refused to apologise and took an appeal that was dropped on the eve of the appeal hearing last January.
Mr Managh said he had recently been told by gardaí that the children's hospital had received the €3,000 compensation he was due from the case.
'I was beginning to worry that it would never be paid, so it's a relief that it's finally over,' Mr Managh said.
It is understood the compensation money was paid earlier this year after O'Reilly withdrew his appeal.
Eddie Óg O'Reilly. Photo: Collins Courts
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