The Court of Appeal dismissed Martin Mooney’s application for more time to appeal an order of the President of the High Court, holding that the order was not appealable to it under section 39 of the Courts of Justice Act 1936.
In an ex tempore judgment delivered on 15 June 2015, Mr Justice Kelly said the High Court President’s order had been made in the course of an attempted appeal from a Circuit Court decision. Section 39, he said, made the High Court’s decision in that context final, conclusive and not appealable. As a result, there could be no extension of time to appeal it.
The application followed a series of missed appeal deadlines. The Circuit Court had made an order on 25 March 2014. Mooney did not appeal within time and later sought an extension. The High Court Master refused that application on 5 June 2014. Mooney did not appear when the motion was called before the Master on either of two occasions, Kelly J said.
The High Court President made an order on 19 January 2015 refusing Mooney’s application to extend time to appeal the Master’s refusal and, if that extension were granted, to appeal the Master’s order. The President’s order was perfected on 4 February 2015. Mooney then applied to the Court of Appeal for more time to appeal it.
Kelly J said that even if the court had jurisdiction, the factual material did not meet the usual conditions for exercising its discretion to extend time, referring to *Eire Continental Trading Co. Ltd v Clonmel Foods Ltd* [1955] I.R. 170. He said the application would be dismissed on that alternative basis as well.
Ms Justice Irvine agreed to refuse the relief on the grounds set out by Kelly J, and Mr Justice Hogan agreed with his ruling. The court’s decision concerned the request for an extension of time to appeal the President’s order.