Little Leeway For Tardy Irish Defamation Claimants

In a previous insight here, RDJ examined the 2018 case of Noirin O'Sullivan v Irish Examiner where the High Court refused former Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan an extension of time within which to issue defamation proceedings. The judicial trend of refusing such applications has continued, largely unabated, since that decision. More recently, in the judgement of Proudfoot v MGN Limited [delivered in December 2019], the High Court also refused an application to extend the one year limitation period for defamation actions provided for under section 38 of the Defamation Act 2009. Despite the difference in facts between the two cases, this most recent judgement confirms the Irish courts' general reluctance to grant an extension of the one year limitation period in defamation cases.