A current and a former councillor have each been awarded €20,000 damages for defamation in a case they took against Wicklow County Council and retired county manager Eddie Sheehy.

Former councillor Barry Nevin, who lost his seat in the 2014 local elections, and Cllr Tommy Cullen sued Mr Sheehy over a press release he wrote in April 2013. The release accused them of making unfounded, misconceived, inaccurate and “very serious allegations” about land the council had bought by compulsory purchase order in 2004.

In the release, Mr Sheehy characterised the councillors’ questioning of the purchase of the land – 1.4 flood-prone hectares, known locally as the Bog Field, at Three Trout Bridge, in Charlesland, Greystones – by putting inverted commas on the word concern when referencing matters they had raised.

The press release was prompted by a report, written for the council by Seamus Woulfe SC, recently appointed Attorney General, which rejected the councillors’ concerns over the land purchase.

In July 2013, Mr Nevin and Mr Cullen sued Mr Sheehy, and the council, at Wicklow Circuit Court, claiming that the press release portrayed them as unfit to be public representatives, that they were incompetent, and that their actions had cost the council approximately €200,000 in interest forgone and also administrative costs by delaying completion of the land deal.

The Circuit Court dismissed Mr Nevin and Mr Cullen’s claims, however, and they appealed to the High Court which on Monday found in their favour.

‘Money wasters’

Ms Justice Marie Baker said in her judgment she accepted that the effect on them of Mr Sheehy’s statement was public odium and that they were referred to as “money wasters”.

Examining the purchase of the land, which was allegedly for social housing, Ms Justice Baker noted that it was bought for €3 million and “had a market value of only a fraction of the amount agreed to be paid”.

“It is this discrepancy between the market value of the land in 2011 and the amount agreed to be paid that gave rise to concern on the part of the plaintiffs and other councillors, public representatives and the public generally, and which formed the political backdrop to this litigation,” she said in her judgment.

In their action against Mr Sheehy and the council, Mr Nevin and Mr Cullen were seeking public vindication and not large damages, she said.

“In my mind, the meaning of the press release was that the two plaintiffs were responsible for wasting money at a time when money was scarce,” said Ms Justice Baker.

‘Unworthy’

She accepted also that Mr Sheehy’s press release had defamed them and portrayed them as “unworthy of public office”.

She awarded them €20,000 each.

The judge said she will take submissions on legal costs in October. These are believed to be, for the council, more than €200,000, with a similar amount for Mr Cullen and Mr Nevin.

Mr Cullen said afterwards that the judgment was a “great relief to Barry, myself and to our respective families”.

“We were public representatives, doing our duty, trying to hold the executive to account with regards to information that came into our possession,” he said.

The land in question has never been built on and, says Mr Cullen, planning permission has not been sought for it since coming into public ownership.