High Court jury begins deliberations in defamation case against Denis O’Brien

The sentence at the centre of the case is 'Sinn Féin/IRA certainly got the report they paid for'

Denis O'Brien made the statement in response to a report on media ownership in Ireland. File photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

A jury in a High Court defamation action taken by two lawyers against businessman Denis O’Brien has begun its deliberations.

Darragh Mackin and Gavin Booth, solicitors at Belfast firm Phoenix Law, claim Mr O’Brien and his spokesman James Morrissey implied in a October 2016 press release that they acted for and received payment from the IRA.