THE FOUNDER of Libertas Declan Ganley is seeking a High Court order forcing Village Magazineto withdraw all copies of its latest edition which contains an article that is critical of him.
The application seeks to force the magazine’s publishers to withdraw the magazine containing an article entitled, “Declan Ganley, snakeoil salesman”, and to remove the same article from its website.
In an ex parte affidavit filed at the High Court yesterday, Mr Ganley said the article has made “very serious allegations concerning my business dealings in Iraq”. Mr Ganley said the article makes out that he is “dishonest, a liar, a fraud and that I am responsible for the deaths of thousands of police officers and soldiers through corruption”. The assertions and allegations are without foundation and are a deliberate attempt at character assassination, he added.
Legal counsel for Mr Ganley yesterday brought the application before Mr Justice Peter Charlton in the High Court and a hearing is due to take place in the High Court tomorrow. The affidavit said: “Specifically, the article states that I ‘covertly’ inserted a clause into a government contract and states that ‘the whole debacle led to a two-year delay in the police network at a very critical time’.
“The defendant refers to a separate publication and quotes, ‘during that time thousands of American soldiers and Iraqi police officers were killed, at least some of whom could have been saved if they were able to pick up a phone and call for help’.”
His affidavit said he has instructed his solicitor to institute proceedings to “vindicate my good name” and added that damages will not adequately compensate him for “loss and damages”.
The affidavit said Mr Ganley became aware of the article last Friday and returned to the country for the purpose of swearing an affidavit in support of his application.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/d44f2db9-df8f-4862-a014-cc272b77d22c.png)