The High Court has granted The Alfred Beit Foundation four interlocutory injunctions concerning six fields at Russborough Estate, restraining David Egar from trespassing on the lands or interfering with their use pending the trial of the Foundation’s action.
The orders also restrain Egar from slandering the Foundation’s title and from interfering with its contractual relations with others over the lands. The court further restrained acts or omissions likely to interfere with the Kaleidoscope Festival or any other activity there. The judgment does not finally determine the parties’ competing claims to the lands.
The Foundation says Egar’s grazing arrangements were licences that expired in February 2020. Egar says he has a tenancy, or is entitled to a long-term lease, based on an oral agreement with Sir Alfred Beit more than 40 years ago. The Foundation owns the estate, including the disputed fields, and its title was not contested in this application.
In considering the interim application, Mr Justice David Keane found that Egar had not produced evidence beyond assertion to support an existing lease or an equitable entitlement to one. He concluded that the Foundation had shown a strong case likely to succeed at trial. He also found that damages would not adequately address potential harm to the Foundation’s charitable objectives and property rights if the injunctions were refused, while damages under the Foundation’s undertaking would be an adequate remedy for Egar if the Foundation later lost.
The dispute concerns approximately 100 acres around Russborough House. The fields are used for farming and, during events, for activities including parking and camping. The Foundation said it needed assurance that it could provide the lands for planned events. Egar disputed the Foundation’s account of his rights and opposed the application.
The court said the evidence and legal issues must be fully argued at trial and that it was not finally deciding them on the interim application. It directed the parties to seek agreement on any issues arising from the judgment, including costs; if they could not agree, they were to file short written submissions within 14 days.