Northern Ireland Health Minister Sues Van Morrison for Defamation

Photo by Jill Furmanovsky

Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann has filed suit against Van Morrison for defamation. The musician has spent much of the past 18-months sharing anti-lockdown protest music, while Swann spent the time doing his best to keep the country informed and safe.

In June, after Morrison was forced to cancel his event at the Europa Hotel in Belfast due to COVID-19 restrictions, the musician publicly called Swann’s handling of public regulations “very dangerous.”

“Robin Swann has all the power,” Morrison told the audience. “So I say Robin Swann is very dangerous.” He then started a “Robin Swann is very dangerous” chant.

Swann’s lawyer, Paul Tweed, told the Belfast Telegraph’s Sunday Life that “Proceedings have been issued and are ongoing against Van Morrison.” Tweed hopes the trial can begin by February of 2022.

Morrison will be represented by lawyer Joe Rice, who told the Associated Press that the suit would be contested and “the words used by [Morrison] related to a matter of public interest and constituted fair comment.”

In September, Swann wrote an op-ed for Rolling Stone addressing Morrison’s public comments and the spread of misinformation concerning the pandemic.

“His words will give great comfort to the conspiracy theorists,” Swann wrote. “The tinfoil hat brigade who crusade against masks and vaccines and think this is all a huge global plot to remove freedoms.”

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Link to the source article – https://jambands.com/news/2021/11/08/northern-ireland-health-minister-sues-van-morrison-for-defamation/