UNSUCCESSFUL LIBERTAS candidate for Dublin Caroline Simons sent a legal letter to Declan Ganley’s spokesman the day after the European elections accusing the spokesman of defaming her.
Ms Simons’s complaint related to a press release issued to the media in her name describing an international Jewish organisation, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, as “beneath contempt”.
The release was prompted by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s claim that some Libertas candidates around Europe were “known anti-Semites, homophobes and anti-migrant racists”.
Ms Simons's letter to John McGuirk, seen by The Irish Times, was dated June 6th.
This was after Mr Ganley had announced Libertas would “ally itself” with the Wiesenthal Centre to fight anti-Semitism in the European Parliament and Libertas had issued a retraction of the original statement in Ms Simons’s name.
On June 1st, a statement from the Wiesenthal centre claimed “extremist” parties and individuals were “reportedly affiliated to the Libertas bloc, founded in 2006 by the Irish-based magnate, Declan Ganley, in order to combat the Lisbon Treaty on European integration”.
Referring to Libertas candidates across Europe, the Wiesenthal centre said: “Some of those standing are known anti-Semites, homophobes and anti-migrant racists.”
A responding statement issued by Libertas in Ms Simons’s name described the Wiesenthal centre as “beneath contempt”.
The statement said it had been only a matter of time before “the establishment got so desperate” that it resorted to calling Libertas Nazis. “The only surprise here is that we had to wait so long before they could find a willing idiot to come and say it.” The statement was dated June 2nd but released on the 3rd.
Later the same day, Mr Ganley announced that Libertas would “ally itself” with the centre “in a joint commitment to defend against, and actively fight, racism and anti-Semitism within the European Parliament and other European Institutions”.
Libertas’s press office said it later issued another statement saying the earlier release attributed to Ms Simons had been issued in error and had not been approved. Ms Simons told The Irish Times that “a number” of press releases were issued in her name without her knowledge during the recent campaign.
She said she sent an e-mail to media outlets on June 3rd, signed by Mr Ganley and herself, saying: “A statement was released earlier today by a member of the Irish Libertas staff which contained untruths.” Ms Simons said she sent an e-mail to the RTÉ newsdesk on June 6th, saying: “The release made by a Libertas staff member was made without Ms Simons’ knowledge or authority and comments ascribed to her were never said and are untrue.”
Mr McGuirk said yesterday: “I’m very disappointed that a candidate who didn’t perform particularly well in the election would choose to embarrass herself like this.”
The subsequent letter from Ms Simons’s solicitor to Mr McGuirk said the original statement issued on her behalf was defamatory.
Ms Simons’s solicitor had instructed Mr McGuirk to issue a new statement to the media outlets that had received the original release, saying Ms Simons was “in fact an ardent supporter” of the Wiesenthal centre and its causes.
