Mr O’Brien had applied for at least some of the bill to be picked up by the State because of the novelty of the case and the legal issues that arose but while Ms Justice Una Ní Raifeartaigh accepted the facts of the case were ‘novel’ she decided there was an ‘insufficient degree of novelty’ in the legal issues raised and so ordered him to pay for the defendant’s costs on top of his own.
Urged court to make exception
Typically, in such cases, the loser pays legal fees for both sides. However, Mr O'Brien's counsel argued that this case should be an exception because of the constitutional importance of the case - and the fact it was brought in the interests of other citizens and not just his own. The original case revolved around members of parliament revealing details about Mr O’Brien’s financial dealings – information that Mr O’Brien had been temporarilty been granted a court imposed restriction against the national broadcaster RTE.
'Unravelled' court imposed reporting restriction
By disclosing his dealings with the The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation IBRC in the Irish parliament in 2015, Mr O'Brien claimed Deputies (Members of Parliament) Catherine Murphy and Pearse Doherty effectively ‘unravelled’ a court imposed reporting restriction he had been temporarily granted against RTÉ. The IBRC was the name given to the entity formed in 2011 by the court-mandated merger of the state-owned banking institutions Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society.
Court could not intervene
Justice Ní Raifeartaigh agreed with Mr O’Brien and accepted that he had been damaged, but ultimately decided the court could not intervene because the members of parliament were protected by parliamentary privilege.
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