The Court of Appeal has lifted an injunction preventing Kenny Galway Limited from using two disputed strips of land at City North Business Park near Ballybrit, Galway.
The dispute concerns grassed areas beside the internal access road and Tuam Road at the business park, where Kenny Galway operates a car sales premises. Strategic Land Investments Limited alleges that the company has trespassed by parking and displaying vehicles there. Kenny Galway maintains that long use has given it rights over the land, including a possible easement for parking.
The High Court granted an interlocutory injunction in 2024 restraining use of the two areas, known in the proceedings as Strips B and C, pending a full trial.
Mr Justice McDonald, delivering the Court of Appeal judgment, held that the injunction should be set aside for two principal reasons.
First, Strategic Land's evidence had suggested that a proposed property transaction could be frustrated if the injunction was refused. However, by the time the High Court heard the application in June 2024, a 999-year lease to Sheils Motorpark Limited had already been completed in December 2023. The Court of Appeal found that the High Court had not been told the true position and described the failure to disclose it as materially misleading.
Second, the balance of justice no longer favoured an injunction. The sale-related concern had disappeared and Strategic Land had shown little urgency in progressing either the injunction application or the underlying proceedings.
The appeal court also found that Kenny Galway had at least an arguable case that it had acquired rights over the disputed strips. Evidence included a 2004 letter complaining about vehicles parked on green areas beside the estate road and later photographs showing continued use.
The ruling does not decide who ultimately owns or has rights over Strips B and C. Those issues remain for trial. For now, the High Court injunction has been discharged and Strategic Land's application for interlocutory relief refused.