The High Court has indicated that businessman Thomas Kearney must leave a large car park at 363 Ballyfermot Road pending the full trial of his property dispute with Kaifan Limited.
Mr Justice Liam Kennedy ruled on July 27, 2026 that Kaifan had established a strong case likely to succeed and that the balance of justice favoured an interlocutory injunction requiring vacant possession. The order is conditional on Kaifan and its solicitors undertaking to progress the proceedings diligently and quickly.
The dispute concerns a lease signed in October 2018 for four years and nine months. The written agreement provided for annual rent of €25,000, restricted the permitted use to car valeting and washing, prohibited assignment or subletting without written consent and required Kearney to leave when the term ended.
Kaifan says rent stopped in 2020, the lease expired on June 30, 2023 and Kearney remained in occupation. It also alleges that he licensed parts of the car park to numerous other users without permission and earned substantial income from them.
Kearney accepts signing the lease and related documents but disputes that they reflect the actual agreement. He claims the parties agreed he could occupy rent-free, license spaces to others and retain renewal rights. He also disputes having received independent legal advice and raises issues about the roles of people involved in negotiating and witnessing the documents.
The judge said those defences can be tested at trial but, on the evidence currently before the court, they rested largely on assertions inconsistent with the written agreements and contemporaneous correspondence.
The court also considered events in February 2026. Kaifan retook possession overnight, and Kearney and associates re-entered the following day. The judge regarded that re-entry as forcible and intimidating on the evidence before him.
Mr Justice Kennedy found damages would not adequately protect Kaifan if Kearney continued occupying and licensing the site, while any financial loss suffered by Kearney from leaving could be calculated and compensated if he ultimately wins. The precise form of the injunction and costs remained to be finalised.