Resources
Case law update - 26 February
Recent cases published on the Courts website are listed below.
Arbitration
Site Facility APS v Randridge Holdings Ltd
19/11/2025 No. 2025 484 MCA [2025] IEHC 668
Arbitration - Arbitral award - Award made in Denmark - Recognition and enforcement - Applicant seeking orders recognising and enforcing a final award of an arbitrator - Respondent failed to cooperate and participate in the application - Failure of the respondent to provide material which would suggest there was a basis for the Court to conclude that there was any form of a stateable case to set aside the award in the Danish courts - Whether the decision should be adjourned - Application granted
Site Facility APS v Randridge Holdings Ltd
Company Law
Ferriter, Patrick and Stephen Ferriter v Gorzow Ltd and ors, and in the matter of DAF Truck Services (Cork) Ltd
28/11/2025 No. 2022 146 COS [2025] IEHC 664
Company law - Minority shareholder - Interlocutory injunction - Applicant seeking an interlocutory injunction to prevent his removal as a director pending trial of oppression proceedings - Quasi-partnership claim - Whether applicant's exclusion constitutes oppressive conduct or a breach of a quasi-partnership - Whether quasi-partnership claim could potentially entitle the parties to specific rights affecting the removal of a director - Remedy - Whether damages would adequately compensate for the alleged oppressive removal of a director - Application granted
Criminal Law
People (DPP) v Molloy, Michael
20/11/2025 No. 81/25 [2025] IECA 252
Criminal law - Conviction - Offences of rape and sexual assault - Concurrent sentences imposed - Appeal against convictions - Expert evidence - Re-examination - Whether the trial judge erred in allowing counsel to cross-examine their own witness - Whether the trial judge erred in permitting the prosecution to ask the expert whether the injuries identified by him were consistent with the history given by the injured party of non-consensual sexual activity - Whether the appellant’s conviction should be set aside - Impugned evidence repeated the evidence the witness had given at the conclusion of his direct evidence - Counsel for the appellant was expressly invited by the trial judge to cross-examine the expert but chose not to do so - Appeal dismissed
People (DPP) v Molloy, Michael
People (DPP) v Brett, Noel
13/11/2025 No. 118/2024 [2025] IECA 227
Criminal law - Sentencing - Offence of assault causing harm - Appellant sentenced to 3 and a half years imprisonment with the final nine months suspended - Appellant appealing against severity of sentence - Whether headline sentence nominated was too high and constituted an error of law - Insufficient regard to mitigation in the case - Whether the sentence was disproportionate - Appeal dismissed
Director of Military Prosecutions v O'S (R)
4/11/2025 No. 132/2023 [2025] IECA 251
Criminal law - Sentencing - Offences of sexual assault and assault on a subordinate - Concurrent sentences fully suspended for 12 months - Dismissal from defence forces - Appeal against severity of sentence - Court erred in imposing the sentence of dismissal from the defence forces - Sentencing disproportionate to the offending behaviour - Failure to take into consideration the testimonials and reports furnished in evidence by the appellant's legal representatives - Court found no error of principle - Appeal dismissed
Director of Military Prosecutions v O'S (R)
Environmental Law
Save Leitrim Environmental and Biodiversity Company Limited by Guarantee v Commissioner for Environmental Information; v and Coillte Cuideachta Ghniomhaiochta Ainmnithe and Ireland and the Attorney General (notice parties) (No. 2)
28/11/2025 No. 2025 151 MCA [2025] IEHC 663
Environmental law - Environmental information - Access to information on the environment - Retrieval of information - Search and compilation - Overhead costs - Staff time spent processing requests - Fees - Freedom of information - Statutory interpretation - Aarhus Convention - Preliminary ruling - Questions raised - Relevance - Questions referred to the CJEU pursuant to Art. 267 TFEU
Immigration
Akande, Saheed Olayiwola v Minister for Justice and Equality
3/12/2025 No. 2024 663 JR [2025] IEHC 679
Immigration - Judicial review - Certificate of naturalisation - Good character - Appellant seeking to quash the respondent's decision refusing his application for a certificate of naturalisation - Applicant failed to satisfy the 'good character' criterion in s. 15(1)(b) of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 - Applicant was convicted of a serious drug offence - Whether the decision failed to properly recognise the significant mitigating factors - Passage of time - Exemplary behaviour - Successful completion of a Community Return Scheme - Application refused
Akande, Saheed Olayiwola v Minister for Justice and Equality
Injunctions
Kelly, John Paul v Store All Logistics Ltd
27/11/2025 No. 2025 3453 P [2025] IEHC 653
Injunction - Employment - Plaintiff seeking interlocutory orders - Managing director - Employment contract - Changes to internal reporting lines - Loss of authority - Reduction in the substance of plaintiff's role - Share allocation and remuneration dispute - Breach of contractual rights by denying due process - Whether the balance of justice favoured granting the relief in the terms sought - Whether damages an adequate remedy - Application refused
Kelly, John Paul v Store All Logistics Ltd
Somnus GMC Waterford Ltd and Somnus GMC Carlow Ltd v Flynn, Michael and Mattress Mick Ltd
28/11/2025 No. 2025 5550 P [2025] IEHC 676
Injunction - Trademark licence agreements - Termination - Bedding and furniture brand - Interlocutory injunction - Plaintiffs' seeking injunctive relief to restrain the defendants from terminating the agreements for the plaintiffs’ licences to use the defendants’ trademarks - Territory dispute - Whether there were serious issues to be tried - Court was satisfied that the defendants had established a reasonably arguable case that the termination of the agreement between the parties permitted a 30-day no-fault termination and that a particular county was not included in the plaintiffs' territory - Relief refused
Somnus GMC Waterford Ltd and Somnus GMC Carlow Ltd v Flynn, Michael and Mattress Mick Ltd
Planning and Development
Cummins, Mervyn and ors v An Coimisiún Pleanála; and BNRG Mothel Ltd (notice party) (No. 2)
28/11/2025 No. 2024 783 JR [2025] IEHC 662
Planning and development - Judicial review - Solar farm development - Grant of planning permission - Applicants seeking an order of certiorari quashing a decision to grant development consent - Whether application was in breach of Art. 22 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 - Whether application for permission invalid due to a lack of consent of a subordinate rights-holder - Omission of wayleaves on application forms - Whether errors harmless or non-consequential - Proceedings dismissed
Cummins, Mervyn and ors v An Coimisiún Pleanála; and BNRG Mothel Ltd (notice party) (No. 2)
Fernleigh Residents Association CLG v An Coimisiún Pleanála; and Ironborn Real Estate Ltd (notice party)
28/11/2025 No. 2023 1449 JR [2025] IEHC 655
Planning and development - Judicial review - Strategic Housing Development - Large build-to-rent apartment complex - Grant of planning permission - Applicant seeking certiorari quashing the order granting planning permission to the notice party - Impugned decision is invalid in that it materially contravenes the requirements of the County development plan - No notice was given to statutory consultees pursuant to Art. 295(h)(i) of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 when read with s. 8(1)(b)(ii) of the 2016 Act - Contravenes a Zoning Objective of the CDP - Lack of provision of private open spaces in multiple units - Court held the decision would be quashed on one core ground, contravention of the CDP as to private amenity space - Application granted
Practice and Procedure
Galvin, Geraldine v Sharif, Imran and Depuy International Ltd
4/12/2025 No. 2015 546 P [2025] IEHC 680
Practice and procedure - Personal injuries - Negligence - Damages claim - Defective hip implant - Renewal of summons - Former solicitor never served the summons - Special circumstances - Second defendant seeking to set aside renewal of summon - Delays - Whether a renewal application should have been brought within a reasonable period - Whether there were special circumstances to justify the renewal of the summons - Application granted
Galvin, Geraldine v Sharif, Imran and Depuy International Ltd
Prisoners
O'Beirne, Paul v Minister for Justice and the Irish Prison Service; and the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána (notice party)
28/11/2025 No. 2024 3 JRP [2025] IEHC 671
Prisoners - Judicial review - Transfer of prisoners - Applicant seeking an order of certiorari quashing the decision to refuse to grant his application for a transfer to an open prison or temporary release to the Community Return Scheme - Applicant was convicted and sentenced to nine years' imprisonment for the offence of facilitating the commission of a serious criminal offence by a criminal organisation - Gravity of offence - Public safety concerns - Whether the decision which is sought to be impugned was "capricious, arbitrary or unjust" - Application refused
Procurement
Construcciones Y Auxiliar De Ferrocarriles SA v Iarnród Éireann - Irish Rail and Northern Ireland Railways Company Ltd; and Stadler Rail Schweiz AG (notice party)
26/11/2025 No. 2025 1548 JR [2025] IEHC 645
Procurement - Tender process - Contract for the purchase and maintenance of trains (and associated infrastructure upgrade works) for the Dublin-Belfast railway line - Award of contract - Suspension - Challenge from a disappointed tenderer in the procurement process - Respondents seeking to lift the suspension of a contract - Whether the balance of justice favoured the lifting of the suspension - Deadline for delivery - Possible loss of funding - Public interest - Application granted
Property
Start Mortgages DAC v Sullivan, Paul and Catherine Sullivan
28/11/2025 No. 2025 129 CA [2025] IEHC 681
Property - Possession proceedings - Application to set aside court order - Motion to adduce new evidence - Defendants seeking to vacate orders - Defendants argued that the Circuit Court lacked jurisdiction to make the possession order - Plaintiff lacked entitlement to sue in its own name or enforce a credit agreement - plaintiff committed statutory and constitutional breaches - Whether admission of new evidence would be to breach the Murphy test (Murphy v Minister for Defence [1991] 2 IR 161) - Court held that the defendants' motions constituted a clear abuse of process - Appeals dismissed
Start Mortgages DAC v Sullivan, Paul and Catherine Sullivan
Coverage: All reserved written judgments published by the Courts Service are indexed on the Library Catalogue where they can be searched by party name, judge, subject, keyword and other filters. Members may log in to the catalogue with their solicitor number and library PIN, available by emailing libraryenquire@lawsociety.ie