Donegal businessman and former presidential candidate Peter Casey has been awarded €140,000 in damages for defamation, arising from a post on Facebook in April 2023.
RTE reports that Acupuncturist Kim McMenamin from Buncrana posted what the court found were “defamatory and malicious” remarks about Mr Casey to his 2,000 Facebook followers.
Mr McMenamin ran for election this year for The Irish People party and described himself as an activist against lockdowns, austerity and uncontrolled mass immigration.
The post came after Mr Casey decided to convert a property he owned in Ludden in Buncrana into accommodation for women and children fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Mr Justice David Nolan said Mr McMenamin had expressed “serious opposition” to the idea of “non nationals” coming to the town and county.
On 25 April 2023, he posted on Facebook, saying he and others had been out at the property in Ludden and had spoken to workers there, informing them that “moving unvetted people around like cattle and then warehousing them in office cubicles for profit is akin to human trafficking and inhumane”.
Mr McMenamin also encouraged people to share the post. Mr Casey alleged the post meant that he was involved in conduct akin to illegal human trafficking and that he treated people like animals.
For full story see https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1211/1485942-peter-casey/
