SINN FÉIN TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire has launched defamation proceedings against RTÉ and presenter Joe Duffy over comments made on the radio programme Liveline.

The High Court legal proceedings were issued yesterday. Ó Laoghaire, Sinn Féin’s education spokesman and a TD for Cork South-Central, is being represented by Damien Sheridan solicitors.

It’s believed the comments at the centre of the case were made by Duffy during an edition of Liveline broadcast shortly after this year’s general election, in which members of the public called in to suggest ministers in a “fantasy cabinet”.

Comments made by Duffy on the same show also led to an apology to another Sinn Féin TD, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, after it was wrongly suggested he had been found guilty of a public order offence.

The edition of the show has since been removed from the RTÉ website.

TheJournal.ie has contacted Damien Sheridan for comment about the latest proceedings involving Ó Laoghaire, who declined to comment. RTÉ also declined to comment.

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