The High Court dismissed Nicola Conway’s proceedings against the Tug of War International Federation and two of its officials, ruling that continuing the case after the club’s settlement with the Irish association would be an abuse of process.
In a judgment delivered on 7 June 2011, Miss Justice Laffoy held that the claims against the International Federation, Co Koren and Cathal McKeever should be dismissed under the court’s inherent jurisdiction. She did not determine whether the footwear ruling at the 2006 Killarney competition was correct. The court had earlier declined to strike out the claim against the Federation under a separate rule governing pleadings, because the statement of claim might be amended to set out a cause of action.
The dispute began when St Pat’s Tug of War Club and two other teams objected to Kilroe competing in the February 2006 championships, alleging its shoes did not comply with the rules. McKeever, then the Federation’s technical delegate, allowed Kilroe to compete. The other teams withdrew, and Kilroe was deemed the winner.
The club later received a two-year ban from international competitions, with one year and nine months suspended, and a €1,000 fine from the Irish association. The judgment also recounts a later Federation letter purporting to impose a further sanction retrospectively; the Federation subsequently said that sanction had not been accepted. The club paid the fine and served the sanctions, according to the statement of claim as summarised by the court.
The proceedings sought declarations about the footwear decision, competition result and sanctions, injunctions against suspending or expelling the club, and damages. The court said the pleaded case did not establish a claim arising from McKeever’s decisions. It also found that, after the club had complied with the sanctions, declarations about them or the competition result would provide no tangible or practical benefit. The settlement with the Irish association had also made the requested injunctions unnecessary.
The court noted that the plaintiff told it she was not pursuing the case as a representative action, despite the statement of claim describing her as acting for the club and its members. It found no cause of action against Koren personally and none against McKeever personally or as a Federation officer. The judgment also recorded that the Killarney event was a men’s competition.
Conway’s application for judgment because no defence had been filed did not proceed. The court also refused the defendants’ request for an order confirming that she was suing representatively, saying the named club officials had not authorised that arrangement.