A High Court jury has been unable to reach a verdict in a defamation action brought by a former Irish Planning Institute (IPI) executive against the Irish Examiner.
Orla Purcell claimed she was defamed by two articles published by the newspaper in January 2023, written by senior reporter Mick Clifford.
The subject of the articles was a report compiled by consultancy firm EY, following an investigation into allegations made against Purcell by another IPI employee.
It was Purcell’s case that various statements in the articles were defamatory in meaning, including statements that allegedly meant she was “guilty” of “serious misconduct”, “impropriety” and “illegality”.
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Purcell, of Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, claimed the statements were “false, unbalanced and published maliciously knowing that they were untrue or being reckless as to their truth”.
The Irish Examiner denied these claims. It said the articles had a different meaning to that contended by Purcell, and that its pleaded meaning was true.
The Cork-based newspaper also relied on a defence of fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest.
Having deliberated on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, the 11-person jury told Judge Tony O’Connor that it was unable to reach the required majority verdict of nine jurors.
The judge thanked the jurors for their attention and excused them from jury service for five years.
In its deliberation, the jury was asked to decide whether the complained-of articles had a meaning asserted by Purcell, or a meaning asserted by the Irish Examiner.
It was also asked to answer other potential questions, depending on its answer to the meaning issue, including whether the Irish Examiner was entitled to rely on a defence of fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest.
The judge fixed a date later in the month for the case to be mentioned again.
Purcell was represented by barristers Mark Harty, Niall Buckley and Hugh McDowell, instructed by BHSM LLP.
The Irish Examiner was represented by barristers John Fitzgerald, Brendan Kirwan and Tom Murphy, instructed by RDJ LLP.
