You will all be familiar with Monica Leech case, which is currently before the Supreme Court. This is the case where an allegation that Monica Leech was having an affair with a government minister resulted in a High Court jury awarding her €1.87 million in damages. That order is currently being appealed to the Supreme Court on the basis that it is disproportionately high.

I would put it in a slightly different light. I would not say this award was disproportionately high. I would say that it is one of the most outrageous decisions every made by an Irish court and is the type of decision that could end up meaning that juries would no longer hear defamation cases.

Go on the Injuries Board website and look at their Book of Quantum. If you are in a road traffic accident and you are paralysed from the neck down for the rest of your life, you will generally not receive much more than €400,000. You will see the type of compensation you can expect to get if you lose your legs in an accident or if you lose your sight in an accident.

I acted for many applicants concerning cases dealt with by the Residential Institutions Redress Board. Some of these were absolutely dreadful cases of young children being horribly sexually abused. Many of them were clearly extraordinarily damaged. Many suffered from alcoholism, had broken down marriages or had never got into a relationship in the first place. Applicants who had never been able to hold down a job were being offered €30,000 or €40,000 to settle their cases.

When I compare damages that are awarded in cases where applicants have suffered very serious life threatening and permanent injuries and look at the amount of awarded to Monica Leech then I have to say that this type of award brings the whole area of defamation into disrepute.

A person’s reputation is a very precious thing. I would be the first to accept that and I would be the first to accept that if a person has been genuinely defamed and has suffered as a result, they should be handsomely compensated and the person who did the defaming should be handsomely penalised. However, let’s be sensible and realistic. The award in this case was outrageous. As I write this, the Supreme Court has not handed down its verdict and I am sure that whatever final order is made, it will be ten times over and above any reasonable amount that should be awarded. I certainly hope however that it will be massively reduced.

Yours sincerely,