Paul Byrne departs Virgin Media after settling action over disciplinary process

The court previously heard that Mr Byrne was suspended from his role following a live report he made on the death of a young boy in County Waterford

Paul Byrne (pictured), who has worked as the broadcaster's southern correspondent for many years, had sued Virgin Media, seeking various injunctions over what he claimed was a flawed disciplinary process.

Veteran Cork TV journalist Paul Byrne has announced his departure from Virgin Media after a settlement in his High Court action against the station over its decision to bring internal disciplinary proceedings against him.

He made the announcement in a post on social media just hours after the High Court was told that a settlement had been agreed. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

In a post on X, he said: "So after 26 years with TV3/Virgin Media News the time has come for me to move on. I’d sincerely like to thank those who’ve supported me over the past number of months and thank you also to those who trusted me to tell their stories during my time as Southern Correspondent.”

Mr Byrne, who has worked in broadcasting for more than 40 years, was appointed TV3’s southern correspondent some 26 years ago and retained the position when Virgin Media took over.

He sued Virgin Media, seeking various injunctions over what he claimed was a flawed disciplinary process which was triggered following a live broadcast in early February. He has been off air since.

The matter was mentioned before Mr Justice Mark Sanfey in the High Court on Tuesday, when the journalist's counsel Eoin Clifford SC said that following a mediation of matters, the dispute had been settled in its entirety.

Counsel then asked the court to strike out the case. No further details of the settlement were given in open court.

Mr Byrne was not present in court on Tuesday. He was presenting The Opinion Line on Cork’s 96FM. He due to fill in again for regular presenter PJ Coogan on Wednesday.

The High Court previously heard that he was suspended from his role following a live report he made on the afternoon of February 9 last concerning the death of a young boy in County Waterford.

Mr Byrne, the court heard, had stated in a report that one line of inquiry being considered by the gardaí as part of the investigation into the child's death was that the boy had allegedly been drowned and placed into a car.

The claim was broadcast after Mr Byrne checked it with at least two credible sources, and after two other media outlets had published the same information. While he had believed the information to be credible, the information later turned out not to be true.

Shortly afterwards, he claims his employer suspended him for allegedly breaching the broadcaster's News Guidelines and Production Handbook, because he had allegedly failed to speak to his line manager about the matter in advance of the broadcast.

He claimed the disciplinary process could have resulted in his dismissal for alleged gross misconduct. He denied any wrongdoing, and claimed that the process was flawed, punitive, disproportionate and should be set aside.

He also claimed that the process lacked credibility and breached his contractual rights.

As a result, he commenced proceedings before the High Court last April seeking an injunction restraining Virgin Media Ireland Ltd, and Virgin Media Television Limited from continuing the disciplinary process against him, and that his suspension be lifted.

In correspondence, the defendants rejected Mr Byrne's claims against both them and the disciplinary process itself.

They said that given Virgin Media's role as a public broadcaster the alleged breach was deemed "serious in nature" and informed him that "steps needed to be taken to avoid a repeat".