John Delaney may face €2m bill over failed High Court battle over his emails

Former Football Association of Ireland chief could have to pay the legal costs of state’s corporate watchdog as well as his own bill

Former FAI chief executive John Delaney. Picture by David Fitzgerald

Mark Tighe

The State’s companies watchdog is to seek a costs order that could result in John Delaney, the former Football Association of Ireland (FAI) chief executive, facing an overall €2m legal bill after he lost a two-and-a-half-year battle to shield his work emails from investigators.

At the High Court last week,Paul McGarry SC, for Delaney, said the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) was seeking to hold his client responsible for all the costs of the protracted legal dispute but he would be objecting to any such order.