Dublin Airport Authority settles defamation lawsuit with journalist
By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association
Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has settled a defamation case and issued an apology to a journalist over social media posts.
On March 12th, Phelim McAleer posted two videos to X stating an emergency had been declared and Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport had been evacuated.
In tweets that were later deleted, the DAA responded twice, calling McAleer’s posts “fake news” and “loose online commentary” and claiming there was no evacuation.
The stress and anxiety caused by this episode was entirely unnecessary
On Thursday, McAleer’s legal representatives KRW Law issued a statement confirming his High Court defamation action had been successfully resolved.
The DAA have issued a public apology, which was also posted on X, stating “We accept that Mr McAleer is a reputable journalist and our wording unfairly impugned his professional integrity and we apologise to Mr McAleer”.
In their statement, the legal firm said the DAA acknowledged an alarm did sound and that passengers were instructed to evacuate.
In a statement, McAleer said the posts on X led to a “massive pile-on of online abuse from people who believed I had falsely reported an emergency at an airport”.
“This settlement means a great deal to me,” he said, adding that the DAA should “never” have called his journalistic integrity into question.
https://x.com/DublinAirport/status/2079601403312456170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“The stress and anxiety caused by this episode was entirely unnecessary,” he said.
Solicitor Kevin Winters said the settlement is a “total vindication” for McAleer.
He described him as having an “impeccable worldwide reputation as a well-established journalist and producer, built up over many years of professional work and achievement and “to suggest that he was somehow involved in a fake news story was utterly preposterous”.
He said a “full and proper apology and correction” was the “primary aim” of the litigation and this was obtained “relatively quickly”.
