Two journalists to take legal action against Eoghan Harris over tweets

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Two journalists have issued legal proceedings against former Senator Eoghan Harris over a Twitter account he contributed to anonymously.

Statements on behalf of Aoife Moore, of the Irish Examiner, and Allison Morris, of the Belfast Telegraph, were issued by Belfast law firm Phoenix Law on Wednesday, confirming the action.

In the statement, Ms Moore said she had been subject to more than 120 tweets in a year. The statement claimed this was an "extensive and malicious campaign of online abuse". 

“Most concerning of all, some of the tweets directed at our client sought to belittle her views and undermine her professionalism through the use of misogynistic language,” the law firm said.

In the statement, Ms Moore said: "These posts tagged other journalists and politicians spreading dangerous lies about me while I carried out my work professionally and diligently. These statements attempted to use my background and hometown against me in a misguided attempt to belittle my work and promote a false narrative."

A statement from the same law firm on behalf of Ms Morris said libel proceedings had been issued by her against Mr Harris. 

As part of the action, orders will be sought to compel the disclosure of information identifying other parties involved.

It alleged the account tried to "harass and defame her" 

Mr Harris was dropped by the Sunday Independent last week after he admitted being involved in the running of a Twitter account under the name Barbara J Pym.

Twitter later suspended a number of other accounts it believes are associated with this, but Mr Harris has denied involvement in these.

While Mr Harris has confirmed he was one of a number of contributors to the Pym account, he has denied any wrongdoing or misogyny, claiming the tweets were fair.