Humphreys ‘disappointed’ in Murphy legal action

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Presidential candidate Heather Humphreys has said she is “disappointed” that Paul Murphy is taking legal action against her, describing him as the “campaign manager” for her opponent Catherine Connolly.

Mr Murphy, a People Before Profit TD that supports Ms Connolly, is taking the defamation action against Ms Humphreys after initially sending her campaign a legal letter over comments made during a presidential debate on This Week radio programme on RTÉ on October 12th.

In that legal letter through Prospect Law, Mr Murphy alleges that the Fine Gael candidate for the presidency had made “grossly defamatory” comments about him.

It relates to comments Ms Humphreys made about Mr Murphy and a protest in Jobstown more than 10 years ago.

Mr Murphy was one of six men charged with false imprisonment of former Labour Party leader Joan Burton and her assistant Karen O’Connell in a car on November 15 2014 during the protest.

They were all acquitted of the charges in 2017.

His legal representatives argue that he has suffered reputational damage through Ms Humphreys’ recent comments about the incident, which he said suggested he engaged in violent criminal conduct, committed an act of gender-based violence and is a misogynist, and subjected Ms Burton to imprisonment.

The letter, dated October 13th, asked for a withdrawal of the remarks, an undertaking not to repeat them, an apology, legal costs and suitable compensation.

Legal documents were filed to the High Court on Wednesday and it is understood there has been no action taken against RTÉ.

Asked on Thursday if the development raised questions about her judgment in making public comments, Ms Humphreys said: “Can I just say very clearly I accept the decision of the courts but I am disappointed that Catherine Connolly’s campaign manager, Paul Murphy, has decided to take legal proceedings against me.”

Ms Connolly’s campaign manager is Beibhinn O’Connor, while Mr Murphy represents People Before Profit in meetings of the political parties that support the candidate.

Meanwhile, the latest opinion poll shows that Ms Connolly holds a significant lead in the race.

Ms Connolly, a left-wing independent TD backed by opposition parties including Sinn Fein and People Before Profit, is on 38 per cent, ahead of Fine Gael’s Ms Humphreys on 20 per cent.

The Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll says support for Fianna Fail candidate Jim Gavin, who pulled out of the contest, is at five per cent.

Reacting to the figures, Ms Connolly told reporters that “polls don’t win elections” and said she would continue canvassing every day.

Ms Humphreys said she believes she is “connecting with the public” ahead of the vote on October 24th.

She said: “The poll is actually on election day. So this isn’t going to stop me from getting out there, from speaking to the people and telling them my vision for the presidency because, you know, I’m an honest, hard-working ordinary person.”

Asked if she accepted it was unlikely she would win, she said: “I don’t accept that. As I said, there’s still a week to go.”

Some 12% of voters said they would not vote, six per cent said they would spoil their ballot and the number of undecideds was at 18%.

The poll involved 1,200 face-to-face in-home interviews with adults between October 12-14, throughout all constituencies.

The accuracy is estimated at plus or minus 2.8%

When those voters are excluded, Ms Connolly is on 60 per cent, Ms Humphreys is on 32 per cent, and Mr Gavin is on eight per cent, with the Fianna Fáil candidate’s vote projected to split fairly evenly if they were to be redistributed to the remaining hopefuls.

Mr Gavin withdrew from the race on October 5th after being dogged by a controversy over owing a former tenant 3,300 euro.

He has since paid the money back.

Despite his declaration to drop out, electoral rules mean that Mr Gavin’s name will still appear on the ballot paper and his votes will be counted as normal.

Ms Connolly’s campaign itinerary for Thursday includes events across Dublin.

Speaking to reporters, she defended comments she made about the Brexit referendum in 2016 when she said she was “full of admiration for the English people who have stood up to a terrible bullying campaign” from the “establishment”.

Asked about the comments, she said: “I’m absolutely, firmly committed to the European Union.

“I have always been constructively critical.

“My comments in relation to Brexit was the manner in which the electorate were being commented upon.

“I was talking about the importance of democracy and whether I liked the result or not, that was a decision, a sovereign decision by the people.”