THE COMPANY operating Dublin’s luxury Shelbourne Hotel must give the hotel owners access to the hotel’s books and records after failing to secure a Supreme Court stay on a court order.
Access to the material is to be made available early next week.
The stay was sought pending the operating company’s appeal against the High Court decision. The Supreme Court yesterday said it would endeavour to have the appeal heard as soon as possible given the urgency of the matter.
The owners, Shelbourne Hotel Holding Company Ltd, (SHHL) had sought access to the books and records after claiming the 262-room hotel, bought and refurbished by them at a cost of €1 million per room, was being run in a “shambolic style” with nobody in charge.
The operators, Torriam Hotel Operating Company Ltd, part of the Marriott international hotel group, denied those claims and also argued it had complied with its obligations under a 20-year hotel management agreement.
It also said the public airing of the owner’s claims was causing “huge damage” to the hotel and sought a stay on SHHL’s proceedings to terminate the management agreement to allow the matter to go to arbitration.
In December, Mr Justice Peter Kelly ruled SHHL was entitled to have access the hotel’s books and records held by the Marriott company operating the five-star hotel, but he also referred the dispute concerning the management agreement to arbitration.
The records sought include minutes of management meetings, its internal control system manual and details of internal audits and reports. Mr Justice Kelly said the information must be used solely for the litigation, arbitration and SHHL’s dealings with the hotel’s creditors, including the Revenue Commissioners.
Yesterday, Torriam sought a stay from the Supreme Court, comprised of Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns presiding and sitting with Ms Justice Fidelma Macken and Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, on the order to hand over the documents.
Refusing the application, Mr Justice Kearns said the documents must be subject to any restrictions imposed by Mr Justice Kelly. He also said the court was making a recommendation the appeal be heard as soon as possible. The appeal was listed for mention before the Chief Justice next week.
Earlier, Lyndon MacCann SC, for Torriam, argued that a refusal of a stay would effectively end his client’s appeal and set the arbitration process at nought. Mr MacCann added that he had concerns over data protection and confidentiality issues in relation to information on the hotel’s employees, customers and other companies within the Marriott group.
Opposing the stay, Cian Ferriter, for SHHL, said Mr Justice Kelly had said the handover of the documents was subject to conditions which limited the scope for use of the material and access to it.
