The High Court has continued an interim stay on works under a foreshore licence for the Dublin Array offshore development, pending further order. The ruling leaves the stay in place while a judicial review challenge proceeds; it does not decide whether the licence is legally valid.
Mr Justice Humphreys gave the judgment on 16 June 2023 in a contested application by Ivan Toole and Golden Venture Fishing Limited. The applicants are challenging decisions by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Minister of State for that department. RWE Renewables Ireland Limited and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine are notice parties.
The court had granted an interim stay on 22 May. In this judgment, it considered whether to continue that stay on an interlocutory basis. The judge said the applicants had an arguable case, noting that leave for judicial review had already been granted. The main issues on the merits remain for the substantive hearing.
The applicants’ central complaint was that legally compliant appropriate assessment had not been carried out. The judge said that, if the alleged lack of assessment were borne out, environmental harm could be possible and damages were unlikely to be an adequate remedy. He left open a fuller debate about any undertaking as to damages if an opposing party applied for one.
The respondents and notice parties relied on the project’s intended contribution to renewable energy infrastructure, climate policy and energy security. The judge recognised climate change as an established fact and noted the public interest in giving effect to public law decisions. He said, however, that the project’s policy importance did not itself justify refusing an injunction. He also considered that the State’s affidavit had not explained in practical terms how the project would reduce dependence on Russian energy.
The judge left for trial the applicants’ argument that the licence allowed indicative work locations to change depending on data available but not fully considered when the licence terms were settled. He also said the applicants could not be “massively faulted” for delay, although they could have acted sooner, and rejected the suggestion that they had to challenge an interim screening step before the final decision.
The balance of justice favoured continuing the stay for now, the judge said. The licensed works could be completed within months, potentially making this case moot if the stay were lifted, and an early substantive hearing was set to begin on 21 June 2023. The order continues the existing stay until further order. Unless the parties apply otherwise at that hearing, the order is to be perfected thereafter, with costs reserved.