O’Dea apology for defamatory comments

THE Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea has apologised to Sinn Féin councillor Maurice Quinlivan for making false and defamatory comments contained in a newspaper article earlier this year.

In a statement read before the High Court the minister accepted that he made the statements in an interview with a journalist of the Limerick Chronicle Newspaper on March 10 of this year.

As a result, last April, Mr Quinlivan, of Stenson Close, Limerick, who was elected to Limerick City Council following last June’s local elections and is Sinn Féin’s joint national treasurer, brought defamation proceedings against the minister and sought an injunction to prevent their repetition.