The sale of the Blackall sisters' home in Blackrock, Co Dublin, has been further delayed following undertakings given to the High Court yesterday.
Eileen (87) and Rose (83) Blackall had applied to Mr Justice Herbert for an order to stay closure of the sale, which was ordered by Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, on June 6th.
Mr Justice Finnegan had ordered that the house and two-acre property known as Marino Park, Blackrock, be sold to developers Chessington Ltd for £400,000, in accordance with a 1995 ruling by Judge James Carroll in the Circuit Civil Court. The amount for which the property was ordered to be sold in 1995 is only a fraction of its current market value.
Mr Justice Herbert said the application should properly be before Mr Justice Finnegan and, on undertakings from Chessington Ltd and Mr Brendan Maloney, the solicitor with charge of the sale, he adjourned the matter for mention before Mr Justice Finnegan tomorrow or at the earliest possible opportunity.
Mr Justice Herbert said he had sympathy for the feelings of Ms Blackall regarding the sale of the house where she was born but none for the application before the court. The Blackalls are seeking to stay Mr Justice Finnegan's order to allow them time to challenge his decision in the European Court.
In 1995 Judge Carroll, in a dispute over wills, ordered the sale of the Georgian property. During numerous hearings in the High Court and Supreme Court his decision was upheld and he further ordered that the property be sold to Chessington Ltd for £400,000. That decision was again challenged in the High and Supreme Courts and again upheld, ending in the matter returning to the High Court for its final order of sale on June 6th.