Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris. A barrister has lodged High Court proceedings against Health Minister Simon Harris TD and Senator Catherine Noone over tweets he has described as defamatory.
Benedict Ó Floinn BL claims that following a panel discussion on RTÉ Radio’s Saturday with Cormac Ó hEadhra the politicians tweeted comments that were defamatory, disparaging and damaging to his professional reputation, with these forming the basis of a number of media articles that he says aggravated the damage he suffered.
During the March 31 show, Mr Ó Floinn said the upcoming abortion referendum was offering people a straightforward choice around whether unborn children should be protected in the Constitution or not.
“The Supreme Court have told us, as recently as a couple of weeks ago, that if the Eighth Amendment is taken out of the Constitution then there will be no residual existing rights on the part of the unborn,” he said.
Questioning how any legislative safeguards could withstand constitutional scrutiny under such circumstances, he said that voting yes would mean “removing those rights and giving a blank cheque to the politicians in terms of the legislation”.