Media and victims are cowed by Ireland's defamation laws 

Government should commit to ensuring new defamation laws work to protect victims and the public interest

Comedian and author David Walliams attempted to use the legal system to prevent allegations against him being published.

The Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPP) Bill 2026 sailed through final stage in the Dáil last week, and now heads for the Seanad. It has not received much attention, but it is an urgently needed piece of legislation. 

It transposes into Irish law an EU Directive to penalise litigants who bring defamation proceedings that aim to silence people accusing them of wrongdoing, rather than defending their genuine rights.

Why the Irish Government has not tackled this issue before the EU did it for us is a mystery, but it is crucial the Government quickly enacts this law and ensures it works.

Many Irish people were shocked to learn this week that Russell Brand and Jeffrey Donaldson used the legal system and threats of costly defamation cases to bully their victims and the news media into staying silent about their crimes. 

David Walliams has also attempted to use the legal system to prevent allegations against him being published.

The same thing is happening in Ireland on a regular basis.

If you are under Garda investigation for rape or sexual assault, don’t worry. The Irish legal system is here to help. Just Google the words “rape,” “sexual assault,” “defence” and “defamation” and you will - perfectly legally - be offered the professional services of a number of firms which specialise in informing alleged victims of their duties and responsibilities towards you as the alleged perpetrator. 

Artist's drawing of Russell Brand in the dock at Southwark Crown Court, London, on Monday.

Some years back, a major Irish media group received a letter threatening defamation proceedings from the Irish leader of an international organised crime group, but it’s not just in criminal matters that SLAPPs arise. 

Some Irish politicians have a strong attachment to the defamation writ, and seem to view any robust challenge to their record or activity as an assault on their good name, and worthy of defamation proceedings.

Our recent presidential election saw a welter of allegations made on all sides. At least one public threat of defamation proceedings has been made in the current debate on the triple lock.

Defamation threats are also widely used against the victims of sexual violence in Ireland. The Index on Censorship group organised an Anti-SLAPP conference in the Royal Irish Academy in October 2024. The extent to which legal threats and actions are used against victims, journalists and public watchdogs with the aim of silencing them was laid bare.

Small firms association Isme brought this to the attention of all TDs and senators during the defamation reform debate in 2025, without success.

Defamation laws harm small businesses

Our current defamation laws also harm small businesses. A business owner with a solicitor’s letter on the desk faces the same conundrum as the newspaper editor. Fight and incur costs that you can’t recover, or back down and accept the threat worked.

One licensed premises successfully defended a defamation claim in the circuit court, only to face a threat of a High Court appeal unless they agreed to cover the plaintiff’s legal costs. The business ultimately had to pay €3,000 in the settlement and absorb €12,375 in legal fees, with a subsequent rise in their insurance premium.

Last year, Senator Michael McDowell proposed a "harm test" for defamation cases, redefining a defamatory statement as one that “tends to cause harm both to a serious and to a lasting extent in the eyes of reasonable members of society”. Minister for justice Jim O’Callaghan rejected this proposal.

The UK has such a harm test and it has radically reduced the volume of defamation cases in British courts. England and Wales have fewer cases than Ireland, despite the population differential.

Will Ireland’s defamation and SLAPP reforms in 2026 make any difference? Time will tell.

The principal concern of the Department of Justice in amending the Defamation Act seems to be to ensure cases are still heard in court, irrespective of their merit. There was no capping of damages, no intervention on the right of appeal where defendants win their cases but are dragged to a higher court.

There were 264 defamation cases in the circuit and High Court in Ireland in 2025. We won’t see the 2026 figures for new cases until next summer, but if they are not substantially lower than this year’s figures, this year’s reforms will have been an abject failure, and the Defamation Act will have to be revisited.

The Government needs to commit to a review of this legislation next year to ensure it is working. We cannot continue with a legal system which makes huge profits by helping rapists, sexual abusers, thieves and others to bully their victims and the media into submission.

• Neil McDonnell is chief executive of Isme, which represents and supports small and medium-size enterprises across Ireland