The High Court granted Start Mortgages Designated Activity Company (DAC) an interlocutory injunction preventing Vincent and Madeleine Kavanagh, and people acting with or knowing of the order, from entering a Carlow house from which the lender had taken possession under a court order.
Mr Justice Allen made the order on 3 March 2022 after hearing the application on 15 February. The judgment says a Circuit Court possession order was made in 2016 and an appeal by the Kavanaghs was dismissed by the High Court in 2017. A court messenger executed the possession order on 17 February 2020 and delivered the property to Start. The judgment records uncontested evidence that the Kavanaghs’ son later cut the locks and that the couple returned to the house. Start said they had refused to leave despite demands.
The property is at 36 Beechwood Park, Carlow, and is registered in Folio 9004F, County Carlow. Start sought orders both to prevent further entry and to stop the defendants and people acting with them from filming or recording Start’s employees or agents, or the County Registrar’s staff, at or near the property, and from sharing footage or images online or on social media.
Mr Kavanagh opposed the application with arguments concerning, among other matters, Start’s title to the charge, the validity and execution of the possession order, and delay in seeking an injunction. The judge rejected those arguments. He said questions about the mortgage and charge were not really relevant to this application, which turned on the possession order. He also said the validity of that order could not be reopened after the possession proceedings had been finally determined.
The court found that Start had been lawfully in possession since 2.30pm on 17 February 2020 and that the subsequent entry was unlawful. On filming and publication, the judge said uncontested evidence showed the defendants and people associated with them threatened and intended to publish images and video to intimidate the court messenger, bailiffs and gardaí.
The injunction bars entry to the property and restricts filming or recording the specified people at or near it, as well as posting or sharing such footage or images. The judge stayed the order until noon on 4 March 2022 to allow the Kavanaghs to remove their belongings. Start was awarded the costs of the motion, to be assessed on the basis of a one-day hearing.