Galway City Council apologises to athlete brothers in High Court

Galway City Council and one of its elected councillors have unreservedly apologised to two brothers who claimed they were defamed in comments made following the cancellation of the 2011 Galway City Marathon.

The apology was to athletes Paul and Richard Donovan, who sued the Council and Fianna Fáil councillor Michael J Crowe for defamation arising out of several publications and statements made by the defendants.

The actions were over remarks concerning the brothers’ role as organisers of the Galway City Marathon.

The brothers claimed they were defamed in early August 2011 when the defendants issued statements to the effect the brothers had delayed unnecessarily in informing prospective participants in the 2011 Galway City Marathon the event had been cancelled sometime after a decision to cancel the run had been made.

It was further alleged that Cllr Crowe, also in early August 2011, published or caused a number of statements to the effect the plaintiffs had failed to honour an agreement to pay a portion of the entry fee from each participant in the Galway City Marathon to the Galway City Sports Partnership.

Withdraw allegations

While Cllr Crowe did withdraw the allegations in respect of the donations on August 11th, 2011, and acknowledged the earlier statement was incorrect, it was claimed he refused to apologise for the remarks he had made.

It was claimed these statements were not true and had damaged the brothers’ good names as well as their personal and professional reputations.

The allegations and the failure to apologise caused additional distress to the brothers, who are athletes and are involved in the organisation of running events, it was claimed.

On Thursday, Paul Burns SC, for the brothers, told the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, the actions had been settled on terms including a statement on behalf of the defendants to be read to the court.

The statement said: “Following the cancellation of the 2011 Galway City Marathon, the defendants made reference to the Donovans in various publications. The defendants now acknowledge that the brothers’ voluntary commitment to Galway City Sports Partnership to make a donation of a portion of the proceeds of the 2010 Galway City Marathon was fully honoured at that time.

‘Did not delay’

“The defendants also acknowledge that the Donovans did not delay in communicating the cancellation of the 2011 Galway City Marathon to registered competitors.

“We acknowledge that any suggestions to the contrary were false and undertake not to repeat or republish our earlier statements or words to similar effect.

“We accept that the plaintiffs are persons of the highest personal and professional integrity and unreservedly apologise for the hurt and distress caused by our previous comments.”

After the statement was read, Mr Justice Kelly agreed to strike out the proceedings.

In a statement issued through their solicitors, Johnsons, the Donovans said they were very satisfied with a “comprehensive retraction of totally unfounded allegations”, together with an unreserved apology from the defendants.

The brothers said they regretted having to bring the actions but are now delighted the record has been set straight.