The High Court has awarded €317,500 to four plaintiffs after previously finding that noise from a turbine at the Ballyduff wind farm caused an actionable nuisance at their homes in County Wexford.
Ms Justice Emily Egan awarded Margaret Webster €87,500 in general damages to October 31, 2025, with compensation continuing at €10,000 a year until the court's earlier abatement order takes effect. Her former partner, Keith Rollo, was awarded €77,000 for the period he lived at their property, Hill House, between February 2017 and March 2021.
Ross Shorten and Joan Carty were each awarded €34,000 for interference with their enjoyment of Nettlefield before they sold it in August 2021.
This was the third judgment in the proceedings. The High Court had already ruled that wind turbine noise from turbine T2 caused nuisance during night-time and other quiet periods, and subsequently ordered restrictions intended to abate it.
The judge described the interference as substantial, prolonged and repeated. She found that the noise caused serious sleep disturbance and undermined the ordinary use, comfort and enjoyment of the homes.
The court also awarded €55,000 for the reduction in Nettlefield's sale value caused by the nuisance. Webster and Rollo received a further €30,000 for the expected reduction in Hill House's value because future owners would have to maintain ongoing engagement with the wind farm operator and potentially verify compliance with the abatement measures.
Rollo's claims for €42,900 in past rent and the cost of future replacement accommodation were refused. Although the court had previously found that the noise caused him a psychiatric injury, it held that this injury and the breakdown of his relationship with Webster were not reasonably foreseeable consequences for which those additional losses could be recovered.
The court also declined to award aggravated or exemplary damages, despite criticising aspects of the defendant's response to the plaintiffs' complaints and litigation conduct.