The High Court ordered Moonblast Limited to yield up possession of Unit 12 at Phibsboro Shopping Centre with immediate effect, granting the landlord a mandatory interlocutory injunction. The order was subject to Albion Properties Limited undertaking to pay damages if required and withdrawing its existing Circuit Court possession proceedings without seeking their costs.
In a judgment delivered on 16 March 2011, Mr Justice Hogan said the case was exceptional because Moonblast had not paid rent for a lengthy period, had defaulted on a court-directed payment schedule and had ceased trading from the unit in December 2010. The premises were closed, and the judge considered that the landlord could not be adequately compensated in damages if the injunction were refused.
The court had previously entered summary judgment against Moonblast for €75,708 in rent arrears, payable in three instalments beginning on 15 January 2011. The judgment records that Moonblast missed the first €25,000 payment. The court had adjourned the landlord’s application for summary judgment against the second defendant, Ciaran Killalea, under a guarantee, to the scheduled trial of the main action.
The amount and terms of rent remained disputed. The landlord had initially claimed €191,566. Moonblast argued that an oral agreement in March 2007 replaced the 2001 lease and set a higher rent, while the landlord denied that agreement. The judge said those disputes required a plenary hearing. He also left open whether Moonblast could claim credit for €28,750 in rent payments that had been returned, and whether that issue could be revisited in relation to the earlier summary judgment.
The judge rejected the argument that choosing the summary summons procedure prevented the court from granting an injunction. He held that the court had jurisdiction to grant such relief where just and convenient, and that it was appropriate in this case. The injunction determines immediate possession pending the main action; the judgment does not resolve the remaining claim, the disputed tenancy terms or the adjourned application concerning the guarantee.