Disclaimer

DefamationWise gives information, not legal advice. Nothing on this site is advice about your own situation, no page or tool says whether a particular statement is defamatory, and reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship with anyone.

What the content is

The guides describe the law of the Republic of Ireland as published in the Defamation Act 2009, the Defamation (Amendment) Act 2026, the court rules and official guidance, with the date each page was last checked. The tools apply those published rules to the dates and answers you enter. Whether a statement is defamatory turns on its meaning, its context and the defences available, which only a court can weigh.

Figures

Statutory periods and limits come from the named primary source. Cost ranges are planning assumptions from published practitioner estimates and a newspaper survey, labelled as such; they are not a scale of fees. Reported awards are matters of public record with a dated source and are not a prediction of any case; an award under appeal is said to be under appeal.

Statutory wording

Three primary sources (the Irish Statute Book, Citizens Information and the revised Acts) blocked automated checks when this site was researched, so some section references were taken from law-firm commentary and are marked in the site’s configuration as awaiting a check against the Act. Where a page and the Act differ, the Act is right.

Changes in the law

Defamation law changed on 1 March 2026 and parts of the 2026 Act are still to commence. The rule-change tracker records what has commenced, what is enacted but not commenced and what is only announced, and keeps them apart. A page that was accurate when verified may be overtaken; check the date on it.

Your own case

For decisions about your own situation, speak to a solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Ireland. Legal aid does not cover defamation. If you are being threatened or harassed, that is a crime: the emergency number and the Garda route are on the guides that deal with it.

Independence

DefamationWise is not affiliated with the Courts Service, the Press Ombudsman, Coimisiún na Meán, An Garda Síochána or any Government department, and no court, department or regulator has reviewed its content.