The High Court has extended an injunction preventing a businessman occupying a suite owned by him at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Co Wicklow.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton granted the hotel’s owners, Sugarloaf Investments Property Holding Ltd and Sugarloaf Ventures Ltd, an injunction preventing Eugene O’Connor from occupying a suite on the premises. The order applies pending a full hearing.

The owners were granted a temporary injunction against Mr O’Connor last May after he padlocked his suite and occupied it along with others. They claimed he was not entitled to do this and his actions caused a disruption to the hotel.

Risk of job losses
Yesterday, applying for the injunction to continue pending the full hearing of the dispute, Rossa Fanning, for the owners, said the business would have to shut down with the loss of some 270 jobs if the orders were not continued. It would not be possible to operate the business if every second or third room in the hotel were occupied by tax investors like Mr O'Connor, counsel added.

Mr O’Connor, Ardmulchan, Navan, Co Meath, asked the court to discharge the injunction. Mr Justice Peter Charleton said he would grant an injunction preventing Mr O’Connor occupying the suite. While he had sympathy for Mr O’Connor’s position, he was not entitled, under the terms of the lease, to occupy the suite.