Cork racing tipster seeks injunction over allegedly defamatory online publicaitons

High Court reporters

A businessman is seeking a High Court injunction restraining a Cork 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 horse racing industry, has brought the proceedings against another tipster, Gearóid Norris, of Harold Place, Mallow, Co Cork.

Mr Heneghan had initially brought proceedings last month against Mr Norris over what he says were a large number of allegedly defamatory publications since March 2025 on X, Substack, TikTok and other platforms.

In an affidavit, Mr Heneghan said that while much of the material was abusive and vulgar, there were a number of grossly defamatory publications.

Despite a cease and desist solicitor's letter prior to the initiation of the proceedings, the defendant, it is claimed, continued to post material about Mr Heneghan and his business.

More recently, however, he published on the Substack online platform an article in which he alleged Mr Heneghan had phoned him and allegedly threatened to kill him by shooting him in the head as well as allegedly threatening his family. This was completely false and deeply damaging to him personally and professionally, he said.

Mr Heneghan believes this "entirely false" 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.

Mr Heneghan said his solicitors wrote to Mr Norris on March 11 seeking an undertaking to remove the article and requesting to preserve a recording of the alleged phone call. He refused to do so.

On March 12, Mr Norris put the solicitors' letters up on his Substack profile also saying he could "paper the wall" with the legal letters from Mr Heneghan. He also said the "truth will out in the end".

Mr Heneghan also said that Mr Norris had also stated on a horse racing community forum in February that an "unidentified gentleman" had phoned him threatening to put a bullet in his head.

The date of this call was different from that in the Substack article, which identified Mr Heneghan and the disparities between the two publications cast serious doubt on the existence of any recording, he said.

On Wednesday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan granted permission for short service of the proceedings on Mr Norris to Tom Murphy BL, for Mr Heneghan, following a one-side only represented application.