Courts / Dublin / Report

Irish couple awarded costs in quarantine case

Date
2021-04-23

Stage
Hearing Or Decision

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

The High Court awarded legal costs to Mark Hedderman and his wife, Sinead Hedderman Gallagher, in a case concerning their right to return to Ireland from Ukraine with their newborn son, Theo Declan. The applicants, who travelled to Ukraine for the birth of their child via surrogacy, challenged mandatory hotel quarantine requirements for arrivals from designated countries. They alleged that the requirement to pre-book quarantine accommodation breached their Constitutional and European Convention rights, arguing it constituted a disproportionate interference with liberty. The action was brought against the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Transport, and Health, along with the Attorney General. Before Mr Justice Brian O'Moore, the court heard that new regulations had been implemented allowing the family to return without undergoing mandatory hotel quarantine. Counsel for the applicants, Micheál O'Higgins SC, stated the family returned home after these regulatory changes and proposed that the case be struck out on consent, with an order for costs against the State. The State's counsel, Catherine Donnelly SC, did not object. Mr Justice O'Moore noted the novel points raised and the resulting regulatory changes, granting a costs order in favour of the applicants. The estimated costs are a five-figure sum. The matter was resolved by consent with the case struck out and costs awarded.