Westport developer sues sister, awarded €15,000

Westport developer sues sister for defamation, awarded €15,000


Roger McGreal has successfully sued his sister, Ann Lynn – who sued him for defamation last March

Anton McNulty

A WESTPORT developer has been awarded €15,000 in the Circuit Court after successfully suing his estranged sister for defamation following a submission she wrote regarding a planning objection.

Brother sues sister
Roger McGreal claimed a submission written by his sister, Ann Lynn to An Bord Pleanala (ABP) objecting to a proposed development in Carrabaun, Westport, was done in malice and that it suggested he was deceitful, unprofessional and guilty of abuse of process.
The case was heard over a number of days in Castlebar Circuit Court, with Judge Petria McDonnell delivering her judgement at last Monday’s sitting of Galway Circuit Court. In her ruling she claimed that Mrs Lynn’s comments in the second part of the letter were ‘extremely strange and unusual’ and awarded damages of €15,000 to Mr McGreal. She found there was no defamation in the first part of the letter.
Speaking to The Mayo News following the judgement, Mr McGreal said he was pleased with the ruling of the court and that ‘it was not about the money’. “It was an inappropriate submission that should never have been made, and I put my case forward and I won,” he explained.
Mr McGreal represented himself during the case, but acknowledged the part played by his legal team of Ms Ann Heneghan and Mr Diarmuid Connolly.
In the letter to ABP, Mrs Lynn stated that documentation issued by Mr McGreal was not accurate and was misleading. Her argued that the letter did not imply that Mr McGreal was corrupt or dishonest.
During the court hearings, details of the siblings’ family difficulties were outlined, with Mr McGreal admitting that he has not spoken to his sister for 16 years.
The case before Judge McDonnell centred around a development proposed by Mr McGreal adjacent to his parents’ former home in Carrabaun. He applied for planning permission to Westport Town Council in 2008 to develop 23 units on the land but was denied and his appeal to ABP was also refused in 2009. Mrs Lynn objected to both planning authorities.
Following the ruling, Judge McDonnell ordered each party to bear their owns costs and granted a stay on the order pending appeal.

Sister sued brother
Last March, Mrs Lynn and her husband, Kieran, a senior engineer with Mayo County Council, successfully sued Mr McGreal for defamation over claims by Mr McGreal that Mr Lynn had abused his power within the council and were awarded €38,000 each. Mr McGreal is appealing the judgement.