A businessman is seeking a High Court injunction restraining a racing tipster from continuing to publish allegedly defamatory online articles about him.
Robert Heneghan, whose company Pro Sports Advice Ltd is involved in the provision of tips for the horseracing industry, has brought the proceedings against another tipster, Gearóid Norris, of Harold Place, Mallow, Co Cork.
Heneghan had initially brought proceedings last month against Norris over what he says were a large number of allegedly defamatory publications since March 2025. He says these appeared on X, Substack, TikTok and other platforms.
In an affidavit, Heneghan said much of the material was abusive and vulgar, while there were also a number of grossly defamatory claims.
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Despite a cease-and-desist solicitor’s letter before initiation of the proceedings, the defendant continued to post material about Heneghan and his business.
More recently, Heneghan alleges, Norris published an article on the Substack platformclaiming Heneghan phoned him and threatened to kill him by shooting him in the head, as well as threatening his family. This was completely false and deeply damaging to him personally and professionally, Heneghan said.
He believes this article was published in an “attempt to pressurise me to relent on my decision to institute legal proceedings against him for all the defamatory material he had previously posted online about me”.
He said there was no truth to the contents of the Substack article and he was seeking to have it removed immediately.
Heneghan said his solicitor wrote to Norris on March 11th seeking an undertaking to remove the article and requesting to preserve a recording of the alleged threatening phone call. He refused to do so.
On March 12th, Norris put the solicitor’s letter up on his Substack profile and said he could “paper the wall” with legal letters he has received from Heneghan. He added the “truth will out in the end”.
Heneghan also alleges Norris stated, on a horseracing community forum in February, that an “unidentified gentleman” had phoned him threatening to put a bullet in his head.
The date of the call in this instance was different from the call referenced in the Substack article, which identified Heneghan. He says the disparities between the two publications cast serious doubt on the existence of any recording.
On Wednesday, Judge Brian Cregan granted permission for short service of the proceedings on Norris to Tom Murphy, barrister for Heneghan, following a one-side-only represented application.
