Bertie 'dig-out' man told FF TD that ex-employee was SF sympathiser

The head of an engineering company told a Fianna Fáil TD over the phone that a man on whose behalf he was making representations about a redundancy was “a Sinn Féin f***er, sympathiser and troublesome employee,” a court heard today.

Mr Justice Raymond Groarke, President of the Circuit Court, told 44-year-old Barry English to pay former Irish soldier Liam Moloney €5,000 compensation for defamation of character relating to remarks English made on the telephone to TD Niall Collins.