The Ukranian woman who survived the Moscow car crash in which former TD Liam Lawlor died, had to fly home from Ireland yesterday without her action for alleged libel being heard.
Julia Kushnir, who had witnesses from New York, Tel Aviv and Prague in the Four Courts in anticipation of the opening this week of her action against the Sunday World newspaper, will now have to wait until May before her case goes ahead in the High Court.
Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne told Ms Kushnir's legal team there was no prospect of the case going ahead today as another libel action was likely to continue.
Paul O'Higgins SC, for Ms Kushnir, said his client and her witnesses had now been in Ireland for three days and he asked that a jury be empanelled in case the action could go ahead today. If that was not possible, he asked for the court to fix a date and give the case priority.
Ms Justice Dunne said she would give the Kushnir case priority in the jury list for next term which begins in early May.
Ms Kushnir survived the car crash in which Mr Lawlor died in October 2005.
A jury was empanelled to hear her case in the High Court on Wednesday but had to be discharged as another case went ahead before it.
Ms Kushnir has sued a number of newspapers as a result of the reporting of the car crash.