Quantity surveyor claims Ryanair defamed him

A quantity surveyor has claimed before the High Court that Ryanair has defamed him and wrongly banned him from flying with the airline.

Eoin Michael Cahill alleges the airline wrongly accused him of engaging in disruptive behaviour on a date on which he neither travelled on a Ryanair flight nor was present at Dublin Airport.

Mr Cahill claims he works for the Jones Engineering Group on a project in the Danish city of Copenhagen.

He claims flights he takes as part of his work between Denmark and Ireland are purchased by his employer.

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He claims that it was arranged that he would fly with Ryanair from Dublin to Copenhagen on January 2nd last, but after extending his leave he did not travel on that date.

The following day, he claims, he was defamed in an email sent to his employer by Ryanair’s customer services.

He says it contains a false and untenable allegation that he was “disruptive” on his journey through Dublin Airport and was prohibited from flying with Ryanair again.

If the communication to his employer is not corrected, he says, the allegation will have disastrous implications for his professional reputation, especially as he needs to travel to Denmark for work.

He is further concerned that the allegedly defamatory communication sent to his employer may have been sent to other parties.

Through his solicitor, CW Ashe and Company, Mr Cahill has asked for details of the alleged disruptive behaviour referred to by the airline.

He has also asked the airline to correct the record with his employer and to lift the travel ban it has placed on him, which he claims it has not done.

The airline initially informed Mr Cahill, who is a recent graduate from Munster Technical University, that it was standing over its decision to ban him from travelling with Ryanair.

However, the court heard that in subsequent correspondence Ryanair’s lawyers asked for a reasonable period to be able to conduct an extensive investigation into the allegations on behalf of the airline.

Mr Cahill’s lawyers said the airline has had ample time to address his complaints. He has launched High Court proceedings against Ryanair DAC and Ryanair Holdings PLC seeking damages, including aggravated damages for alleged defamation.

Mr Cahill, with an address at Killarney Road, Macroom, Co Cork, wants the court to make various orders prohibiting the defendants from further publishing the allegedly defamatory material and directing the airline to publish a correction of the allegedly defamatory statements.

He further seeks an order restraining Ryanair from prohibiting his ability to travel with the airline pending the trial of the action.

The matter came before Mr Justice Mark Sanfey on Tuesday, who on an ex parte basis granted Mr Cahill’s lawyers permission to service short notice of the injunction proceedings on the defendants.

The judge raised some concerns about the court’s ability to grant the injunctions sought.

The judge asked if a court can compel two parties at this stage of the proceedings to enter into a contractual relationship such as the one sought.

The matter will return before the court in early February.

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