When the matter was due to return to the High Court, Laffoy J was told that it had been settled on the basis of a statement which would be read out in court and would be inserted as an erratum slip into the books when they go on sale (see Irish Independent | Irish Times).
The statement said that Ms Verwoerd was happy to acknowledge that Mr Kavanagh was and remained a good friend of Gerry Ryan, that it was to Mr Kavanagh that Gerry turned for help shortly before his untimely death, and that Mr Kavanagh had indicated he would help in whatever way he could to alleviate the financial pressure on Gerry. The statement added: “Melanie Verwoerd does not and never has suggested that Mr Kavanagh behaved in any way inappropriately on April 29, 2010″.
I’m glad that the book is now on sale, but the interesting legal questions raised in my previous post remain unresolved. We shall have to await another case to learn the precise extent to which the high hurdles set by section 33(1) of the Defamation Act, 2009 (also here) will actually be applied even to interim and interlocutory applications such as the one made by Mr Kavanagh in this case. The parties to this litigation danced a stately gavotte, but I can foresee circumstances in which the application might have the character of a more frenetic quickstep, and clear judicial guidance will be necessary if decisions are not to be taken out of (dub)step with the Act.
This post originally appeared on the Cearta.ie blog and is reproduced with permission and thanks