Protesters defame O’Brien, says solicitor

ANTI-BIN charge protesters received a solicitor’s letter threatening legal action an hour after announcing they would picket Dublin Castle to coincide with the appearance of businessman Denis O’Brien before the Moriarty Tribunal yesterday.

Spokesman Richard Boyd Barrett, of the Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP), said they would not retract any of the contents of an issued press release, described by William Fry Solicitors, for Mr O’Brien, as being defamatory of their client.

At the tribunal entrance, Boyd Barrett, chairman of Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Anti-Bin Tax Campaign, led about a dozen protesters who held placards showing a photograph of Mr O’Brien. The solicitors for the Algarve-based businessman took issue with the press release, which contrasted the treatment of Mr O’Brien with that of bin tax protesters.