A Co Dublin couple who claimed they had been defamed and falsely imprisoned at Dublin Airport after being questioned about an amount of cash one of them was carrying, have withdrawn their claims.
Barrister Shane English told Judge Jacqueline Linnane in the Circuit Civil Court that Dara and Michelle O'Carolan, of Brookdale Road, Swords, had also apologised to Dublin Airport Authority and agreed to make a contribution of €1,000 towards its legal costs.
The couple had alleged that while travelling to Orlando in September 2012 they had been stopped by staff at the security checkpoint in Terminal 2 during a customary check on carry-on luggage and personal belongings.
The couple claimed that in the course of removing items from his pockets in order to pass through security Mr O’Carolan had removed a quantity of US dollar notes from his pocket.
They alleged Mr O’Carolan had then been asked “in an aggressive manner” by a member of the security staff how much money he was carrying. Mr O’Carolan claimed in his proceedings that, believing this was an inappropriate request, he had told the security man “this was none of his business”.
When further asked how much money he was carrying, he said it was well below customs limits both in Ireland and the USA. The staff member had refused to give him her name and the couple had been told security would see to it airport police and customs delayed them getting to their flight.
The O’Carolans claimed they had not been allowed to leave the area and later two airport police officers and two customs officers had escorted them “the length of the security hall” to a screened-off area.
Mr English, who appeared with Gore and Grimes Solicitors for Dublin Airport, had entered a full defence denying that the alleged defamatory words had been spoken by security staff or that any words spoken had been capable of bearing any defamatory meaning.
Dublin Airport Authority also denied that Mr and Mrs O’Carolan, who were allowed to continue to their flight, had been falsely imprisoned.