The Court of Appeal allowed Michael Heffernan’s appeal against a High Court costs order in his dispute with Hibernia College Unlimited Company over his place on its Professional Master of Education programme. It varied the order after finding that the High Court had failed to account for costs Heffernan incurred before the college made a late offer that led the judge to refuse an injunction.
Heffernan’s place was withdrawn after a Garda vetting disclosure showed a conviction at Fermoy District Court on 22 February 2019 for driving under the influence of alcohol. He challenged the referral to the college’s Garda Vetting Committee and the subsequent decision to withdraw his place. He sought interlocutory relief to prevent the college from excluding him while his proceedings continued.
Two working days before the injunction hearing, the college offered to set aside the first committee’s decision and convene a fresh independent vetting committee. Its offer also provided for an independent appeal if needed and said that, if Heffernan passed vetting, he could join the autumn 2019 cohort. The offer was made without an admission of liability and was open until 16 September.
Heffernan did not accept the offer before the High Court hearing on 17 September. Twomey J. refused the injunction, concluding that the proposed fresh committee hearing provided a remedy for his complaint. The judge also said damages would be an adequate remedy. He awarded the college the costs of the injunction application from the date of the offer through the hearing.
After the first decision was set aside, a newly convened committee allowed Heffernan to continue his studies. The parties accepted that the underlying proceedings had become moot. The Court of Appeal did not decide the merits of the original dispute or whether damages were an adequate remedy. It also declined to determine the costs of the proceedings as a whole.
The appeal court held that the High Court could properly take the college’s offer into account and award the college some costs because Heffernan proceeded with the hearing after declining it. But the college had made the offer only after substantial costs had been incurred, and those proceedings had prompted the offer. The High Court should therefore also have considered Heffernan’s costs of obtaining that remedy.
The Court varied the order: Heffernan is to recover the costs of the injunction application up to and including close of business on 16 September 2019. The college is to recover only the costs connected with its application on 17 September that the injunction hearing not proceed. The appeal court’s ruling concerned the costs of the interlocutory application; it did not resolve the broader moot proceedings.