State barristers in Ian Bailey civil case receive fees of €1.21m

Four barristers who led the State’s successful defence against Ian Bailey’s High Court action for damages have received fees totalling €1.21 million for their work on the case.

Figures released in response to a Freedom of Information request to the Chief State Solicitor's office and the Attorney General's office show that two of the barristers, Luan Ó Braonáin SC and Paul O'Higgins SC, have each received fees in excess of €350,000. David Lennon received €231,653 and Paul Anthony McDermott received €193,526.

Last March, a jury rejected Mr Bailey's civil action over the conduct of the Garda investigation into the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in Cork. It found that gardaí had not conspired to falsely implicate Mr Bailey (58) in the murder and had not induced a witness into making a false complaint of harassment against him.

The case started on November 4th, 2014, and lasted for 64 dayson behalf of Mr Bailey and 70 State witnesses, some of whose statements were agreed and read to the jury.