Denis O’Brien must pay all legal fess in failed case involving Pearse Doherty TD

Denis O’Brien will have to pay an estimated € 1m in legal fees following his failed action over statements made in the Dáil about his banking affairs.
The High Court decided there was an “insufficient degree of novelty” in the issues raised to warrant a departure from the ‘loser-pays’ rule.
Denis O’Brien didn’t sue Deputies Catherine Murphy and Pearse Doherty for utterances made in the Dáil in May and June of 2015 about his dealings with the IBRC but he effectively asked the High Court to reprimand them through a case taken against the clerk of the Dáil, the Dáil Committee on Procedures and Privileges and the State.
He claimed they’d abused their powers by revealing details that were protected by a court order.
Ms. Justice Una Ní Raifeartaigh ruled against him in March because of the absolute privilege enjoyed by our politicians in both houses of the Oireachtas
To intervene would have a chilling effect on parliamentary speech, she said.
Mr. O’Brien applied for a portion of the costs to be paid by the defendants, but Justice Ní Raifeartaigh ruled the issues raised didn’t pass the degree of novelty required to warrant a departure from the norm whereby the loser pays.