Trade union official Brendan Ogle has dropped High Court defamation proceedings against two senior figures in the Unite trade union.
Mr Ogle is an employee of Unite. In September 2023, he issued proceedings against the union’s General Secretary Sharon Graham and its former chairman Tony Woodhouse.
Mr Ogle claimed he had been defamed in speeches made by the two union leaders.
RTÉ News understands that Mr Ogle withdrew the defamation case last month.
He would not comment on the matter when contacted today.
However, sources close to Mr Ogle said he dropped the case because of financial considerations and that he would now instead focus on a High Court appeal of a Labour Court judgement issued last month.
That appeal is expected to be lodged in the coming days.
Last month, Mr Ogle lost a Labour Court appeal of a discrimination case taken against Unite.
He had claimed that his duties had been downgraded after his return from cancer treatment and that he had been discriminated against, a claim denied by Unite.
At the time, Mr Ogle said the rejection of his appeal was a very disappointing outcome.
Unite said it welcomed the Labour Court ruling.
“We are satisfied that both the Labour Court and the WRC have confirmed that Unite meets the high standards we expect from all employers and institutions,” the union said at the time.
