Court told siren noise near Johnstown Estate hotel has ceased

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The High Court was told on 26 July 2023 that siren noise near the Johnstown Estate hotel in Co Meath had ceased. Mr Justice Brian O’Moore said he was prepared to accept undertakings from two defendants rather than continue the injunction terms concerning the siren.

Lefgem Limited and Wave Prime Limited, the hotel’s owners and operators, had obtained a temporary injunction on 21 July restraining three people from generating loud noise near the venue. The defendants, David Godwin, Peter Wilson and Martin Kennedy, claim they each own a lodge near the hotel.

At the return hearing, Bernard Dunleavy SC, for the companies, said Godwin and Kennedy were prepared to give written undertakings to comply with most of the injunction terms. He said concerns remained about noise from generators and offered to supply smaller ones as a compromise.

Representing themselves, Godwin and Kennedy said they needed the generators to provide electricity to their properties and rejected claims that they were industrial generators. Godwin said he had used the same generator for some time and the companies were only now complaining about it.

The judge said a breach of the undertakings would have “serious consequences”. He continued the injunction concerning generators and urged a compromise. Wilson was in Spain and had not attended; the judge continued the orders against him and adjourned the matter to a date in August.

The companies said the dispute followed their decision to cut off power and water to lodges not owned by the hotel. They claimed Godwin had used an airhorn and then a siren, causing disruption to the hotel.