Sir Van Morrison has settled two defamation actions in the High Court in Belfast that were listed together for a jury trial on 30 September 2024.
In one case Sir Van sued the former Northern Ireland health minister, Robin Swann and the Department of Health for an article by the minister in Rolling Stone magazine in September 2020. This commented adversely on the lyrics on some tracks to be put out by Sir Van which protested against UK government lockdown policies.
In the other Mr Swann sued Sir Van for public comments which he made about these matters in June 2021 after a socially distanced concert of Sir Van’s was cancelled by the NI Executive the day before it was due to take place.
The parties today made a joint statement in open court regarding the settlement.
Gavin Millar KC represented Sir Van in both cases, instructed by Mills Selig in Belfast.
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