Courts / Cork / Report

Irish Life disputes British group's termination of lease

Date
2019-07-23

Stage
Hearing Or Decision

Primary locality
Cork City

County
Cork

Summary

In a fast‑track commercial court case, Irish Life Assurance PLC has sued Arcadia Group Ltd over a 1987 lease for a Cork City property at 101 Patrick Street. The lease, worth €650,000 annually, is set to expire in 2022. Arcadia, which entered a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) in the UK, claims the lease was terminated on 12 June 2019 as part of that CVA. Irish Life disputes this, asserting the lease remains in force and that rent from July of the current year to the lease's expiry is €1.95 million. Irish Life seeks declarations that the lease continues, that the CVA‑based termination is not recognised in Ireland, and orders for specific performance, payment of outstanding rent, and damages. The case was admitted to the Commercial Court by Mr Justice Robert Haughton, with a week's adjournment pending a decision on whether the dispute should be heard in Ireland or the High Court of England and Wales.