A Dublin restaurateur has secured a temporary injunction in the High Court restraining the owner of a city premises from taking any steps to deny him access to his restaurant.
George Sabongi said in an affidavit to the High Court that when he had attended his George's Bar and Restaurant premises on Baggot Street yesterday, he was prevented from entering by security guards.
Mr Justice Frank Clarke granted the interim injunction until next Monday.
Mr Sabongi said he had entered into talks in 2004 with Patrick Kelly over the lease of the premises at Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2. He said the lease was for 20 years with an annual rent of €200,000. Mr Sabongi said he spent some €1 million to fit out the restaurant and had traded successfully from there.
When he applied for a special restaurant licence, he was told there was no fire certificate. He had asked Mr Kelly, who also owned a number of surrounding properties, for his assistance in respect of the number of exits from the premises, but Mr Kelly did not assist.
As a result, Mr Sabongi said he was only able to get a limited fire safety certificate, which meant he was only able to use a portion of the premises.
As a result of the difficulties, Mr Sabongi said he had refused to pay rent directly to Mr Kelly and paid it into a separate bank account. No complaint was made by Mr Kelly, he said.
However, yesterday he was prevented from entering the premises by security guards who indicated they were agents of Mr Kelly and handed him a letter referring him to a firm of solicitors.