The High Court has refused Friends of Killymooney Lough permission to appeal an earlier ruling which upheld planning permission for a Tesco development at Cock Hill in Cavan Town.
In a judgment delivered on 31 October 2025, Mr Justice Humphreys held that the climate-law questions advanced at the appeal stage had not been properly pleaded or argued during the original judicial review.
The underlying permission, granted on 3 December 2024, covers a 5,147 square metre retail unit, 297 parking spaces, a drive-through café, petrol filling station and associated development. Tesco Ireland told the court the project was expected to support about 200 jobs once operational.
Friends of Killymooney Lough had previously challenged the permission, but the High Court upheld it in July 2025. The group then sought leave to appeal on three proposed questions concerning greenhouse-gas emissions, cumulative traffic impacts and the obligations imposed by section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015.
The court found that those issues represented a substantial reworking of the case after the substantive judgment had been delivered. It said the original proceedings had focused on environmental impact assessment issues and an alleged failure to have regard to the Climate Action Plan 2024, rather than the detailed section 15 duties now proposed for appellate consideration.
Mr Justice Humphreys also held that this was not a suitable test case for wider climate-law questions because the emissions involved were relatively low and the proposed points had not been fully developed at first instance.
The practical consequence is that the High Court challenge is finalised unless the Supreme Court separately grants leapfrog leave to appeal.
The application for High Court leave to appeal was dismissed. If the Supreme Court grants a direct appeal, the costs of this leave application will follow that appeal; otherwise, there will be no order as to costs.