Darragh Mackin

The trio of Liam Óg Hanna, Naoise Ó Cairealláin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh allege that Mr Gasparro made defamatory comments regarding their applications to enter Canada in a video posted to his X page in September.

Lawyers for Kneecap say the statements, which were widely circulated across national and international media, were inaccurate and caused significant damage to the group’s reputation.

The decision to launch proceedings comes after it emerged that neither the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office nor the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) were consulted by Mr Gasparro prior to the publication of the video.

Darragh Mackin, partner at Phoenix Law, said: “Our clients have been subject to serious and unfounded assertions by way of a public video posted on a personal social media account which has caused substantial reputational harm.

“The statements made by Mr Gasparro were wholly inaccurate and defamatory without any reason or justification.

“It is unprecedented for a government minister — without consultation with the prime minister or the respective department — to take to matters into their own hands via their own social media channel.

“Such clickbait tactics have no place in a modern democracy. Such actions fall foul of the most basic of principles and for those reasons we have no alternative but to now seek immediate correction and clarification by way of court proceedings.”

He added: “Kneecap, just like every private citizen, are entitled to fairness and the protection of their good name and reputation. These proceedings have been initiated to vindicate those rights.

“Kneecap remain committed to progressing their immigration applications and to constructively engaging with the relevant Canadian authorities who were not consulted in advance of Mr Gasparro’s Twitter video.”