Courts / Dublin / Report

Electric Picnic dispute will be heard before summer

Date
2014-02-03

Stage
Charge Or Pretrial

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

The Commercial Court has set a trial date of Tuesday, May 13, 2014, for a dispute between music promoter John Reynolds and Festival Republic Dublin Limited (FRD) regarding the Electric Picnic Music Festival. Counsel for Reynolds, Edward Farrelly BL, stated his client wished to proceed before the summer festival season, while FRD's counsel, Rossa Fanning, requested a May or October date due to peak business periods. Mr Justice Peter Kelly noted the case's first anniversary was approaching and allowed two weeks for discovery inspection. Reynolds, the applicant, seeks a declaration that he is entitled to manage the festival, alleging under section 205 of the Companies Acts that FRD refused to allow him to operate the event as envisaged. He claims this alleged refusal causes hardship to POD Music Ltd and that FRD's management decisions for 2012 and 2013 benefited the FRD Group at the expense of POD Music Ltd. FRD opposes these claims, alleging Reynolds engaged in deliberately obstructive behavior and sought a buyout at grossly inflated prices. The company denies excluding Reynolds from management or integrating the Picnic into its stable of events. The matter is at the pre-trial stage, with the trial scheduled for May 2014.