A company of developer Greg Kavanagh must provide a bond from an Irish-licensed bank within a month for €500,000 as security to show it has the resources to fight a High Court dispute over a residential development next to Inchanappa House in Ashford, Co Wicklow.
Mr Kavanagh’s Beakonford Ltd has sued Inchanappa House owner Oonagh Stokes and local woman Barbara Wilding claiming there was an attempt to extract a payment of €6 million from the company as part of an objection lodged against the planning application.
Planning permission was eventually granted for 98 homes on land formerly part of Inchanappa Estate and bought by Beakonford for €4 million.
The defendants deny the claims.
Zuckerberg’s culture shift at Meta could make it hard to find new recruits willing to work in his macho organisation
Keeping sea lice from farmed fish will boost aquaculture health and profits
Bosch Unlimited 7 Aqua review: Saving time and effort on household cleaning
Irish space race: domestic companies pushing the frontiers of AI, space stations and acoustic technology
Ms Stokes, and her company Hibernian Cellular Networks Ltd, have brought their own proceedings against Mr Kavanagh and his company claiming, among other things, her property has been interfered with and trespassed upon through initial development works on the Kavanagh/Beakonford site.
She is also seeking an order overturning the Bord Pleanála permission for the 98 homes. She has obtained an injunction preventing interference.
In the case being taken against Ms Stokes and Ms Wilding by Beakonford, they applied to the court for a “security for costs” order against Beakonford which means a litigant has to show it has the money to pay legal costs if they lose the case.
Ms Stokes and Ms Wilding were not happy with the terms and nature of a bond that Beakonford first proposed to put up as security. They were not happy that there was evidence to say there was sufficient finance behind the bond. Beakonford insisted there was.
As a result, the court was asked to decide what the amount of the security should be and how it would be provided.
In a judgment last week, Mr Justice Michael Twomey said the amount of the security should be €250,000 per defendant.
The case returned before him on Wednesday when he was told Beakonford was still proposing to put up a bond but this time it would be from an Irish licensed bank.
Following exchanges between barristers for the parties and the judge, Mr Justice Twomey ruled the security could be in a bond from an Irish licensed bank but it must be lodged with the court within a month. Alternatively, if it is to be in cash, it can be lodged within three months.
This story was updated on January 30 to correct the size of the bond to €500,000 from €250,000
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
