I can afford a private jet: de Burgh

DANIEL DECAVELHO, Ryanair European communications manager, told the court after the press release was issued, he received a phone call from Ms Davison’s father, the singer Chris de Burgh, in which Mr de Burgh said he would sue Ryanair and Mr McNamara personally unless they apologised.

Mr de Burgh also said he had himself sued 16 times in other cases and won, said Mr deCavelho.

Mr de Burgh also said he respected what Ryanair had done in making air travel cheaper, even though he had never had to avail of it himself because he could afford a private jet.

Under cross-examination from Declan Doyle SC, for Ms Davison, Mr deCavelho denied he was lying when he said he had received a call in summer 2008 from Ms Davison looking for a free airline ticket in relation to a charity event, and refused the request.

Darragh Brady, manager of the Ryanair.com website, told the court that the web page featuring the press release had received 9,326 hits since the time it was issued up until yesterday. Most — 6,053 — were from people based in Britain, said Mr Brady.