The Court of Appeal dismissed two appeals by Cecilia Griffin and Caroline Barnes over the compulsory purchase of land by Kerry County Council for a link road in Castleisland, Co Kerry.
In an ex tempore judgment delivered on 22 June 2015, Mr Justice Kelly said the High Court was right to strike out the women’s action because it had no reasonable prospect of success. Justices Irvine and Hogan agreed.
The appeals concerned two High Court orders: one striking out the litigation and another refusing to require the council to deliver a defence. The High Court judge heard the council’s strike-out application first. Once the action was struck out, the Court of Appeal said there was no basis to require a defence in proceedings that were no longer in being.
The claim sought damages for alleged fraudulent misrepresentation relating to the compulsory purchase of a disused railway line, as well as discovery, restoration of the land and an injunction against trespass or interference after reinstatement. The judgment said the compulsory purchase process included public consultations from October 2001 and an inspector’s hearing in February 2006. Neither plaintiff appeared at that hearing. The purchase order was later confirmed, the council entered the land, and the road had been completed and opened by the time of the appeal.
The court gave two reasons for upholding the strike-out. First, the land was now owned by the council, and the former owners’ rights were limited to monetary compensation available under the legislation governing compulsory acquisition. The judgment said the plaintiffs had not applied for that compensation. Second, the claim did not identify who made the alleged representation or show that either plaintiff acted to her detriment because of it. Kelly J said the particulars supplied in the case supported the High Court judge’s conclusion that there could be no fraud; at most, there may have been a mistake.
The court did not award compensation or decide its amount. It noted the council had said it would not raise a time objection if an application was made by 1 September 2015, and advised the women to seek professional legal help promptly. The appeals were dismissed.