The row between Paddy McKillen and the billionaire Barclay brothers over the Maybourne hotel group effectively ended last year, when it was bought by Qataris who will work with McKillen.

The fallout from the bitter dispute is ongoing, however. It was reported this week that Denis O'Sullivan, a former Garda, got leave from the Dublin High Court to pursue a defamation case against the Sark Newsletter and its editor, Kevin Delaney, who is based on the tiny Channel island.

As well as being a newspaper editor, Delaney, it turns out, is also a former property company manager for the Barclays, who have had extensive interests on Sark. Delaney stepped down from the property post last year.

O’Sullivan’s lawyers told the High Court this week that the publication allegedly defamed their client in articles going back to January 2015.

That month, it carried a piece about O’Sullivan and McKillen, in which it made all manner of choice remarks about the former Garda’s alleged activities in Sark on behalf of the developer.

The newspaper has been subject previously to a stream of complaints to police from islanders alleging harassment in its pages.

O’Sullivan clearly denies the litany of allegations made against him by Delaney, hence the ongoing Dublin lawsuit. Meanwhile, the row between McKillen and the Barclays may be over, but the Irish developer also retains a beef with Delaney.

McKillen has also filed a defamation case against Delaney and the Sark Newsletter. That case is up for mention later this month.