The High Court refused an application to adjourn proceedings for mediation in a dispute involving rent payments from occupants of a McDonald’s outlet in Kilkenny. Mr Justice Tony O’Connor instead set deadlines for pleadings and affidavits and scheduled the outstanding injunction motion for hearing.
The plaintiffs, Danske Bank A/S and Stephen Tennant, had brought the proceedings against Suzanne Gillespie, also known as Suzanne Clarke. The court said Abbott J had given the plaintiffs liberty to issue the proceedings on 27 June 2017; the summons was issued on 5 July.
The plaintiffs had also sought a range of interlocutory orders relating to properties listed in the summons. That application came before Gilligan J on 5 October. The defendant’s solicitors later invited the plaintiffs to refer the action to mediation. The plaintiffs refused the offer, the court understood, after earlier correspondence said mediation might not be necessary or appropriate. Without prejudice settlement meetings had taken place in March and on 18 October 2017.
The defendant’s counsel proposed a mediator and November dates. The suggested fee was €3,000 plus VAT per party for the first day and €2,000 plus VAT per party for each later day. The judgment noted that the defendant acknowledged her limited means could put her at a disadvantage in contesting proceedings.
Justice O’Connor said the court could not make definitive findings about the conduct of the litigation at this interlocutory stage. He nevertheless observed that the case had taken a circuitous route and that two settlement efforts had been unsuccessful. He also said the injunction application, if pursued without focus, could delay the case unreasonably.
The judge refused the mediation adjournment, saying court intervention was too early and inappropriate given the apparent futility of mediation at that stage, the absence of exchanged pleadings and the imminent completion of affidavits for the injunction application. He said the court should give directions to advance the proceedings and address how and when the injunction application would proceed.
The plaintiffs were directed to deliver a statement of claim by 26 October 2017, and the defendant a defence and counterclaim by 9 November. The plaintiffs could file a replying affidavit by 16 November. The case was listed for mention and any further directions on that date, and the injunction motion was adjourned for hearing on 22 November 2017.
The judgment’s postscript records that the Court of Appeal dismissed the defendant’s appeals from interlocutory orders on 23 April 2018. The High Court was informed on 22 November 2019 that the action had settled.