The Court of Appeal has ordered Niamh McDonald to pay most of the appeal costs claimed by Fr Tommy Conroy and Gorey Community School, while staying payment until the conclusion of a High Court retrial. The court also allocated costs for specified issues from the original High Court hearing and left the remaining trial costs for the retrial judge.
The costs judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Maurice Collins on 30 November 2020, followed the court’s earlier decision to allow appeals by Conroy and the school, set aside the High Court judgment and order, and direct a rehearing. The appeals court had found significant defects in the High Court judgment. Its costs ruling did not decide the outcome of the retrial.
The court held that Conroy and the school were presumptively entitled to their appeal costs because they succeeded in having the High Court findings of liability set aside. It rejected McDonald’s argument that they were only partly successful because her claim was sent back for rehearing rather than dismissed. However, the court ordered deductions for the appellants’ written submissions on recusal and, for the school, vicarious liability. McDonald’s corresponding submission costs are to be set off against the costs payable by her. A Legal Costs Adjudicator will quantify the amounts.
For the original High Court hearing, McDonald is to recover the costs of the recusal issue from Conroy and the school. The appellants are to recover costs relating to claims about the period after McDonald turned 18 and the school disciplinary issue. The remaining High Court costs are reserved for the judge who hears the retrial. The appeals court said it was not in a position to allocate overall trial costs by percentage.
The court stayed all its costs orders pending the conclusion of the retrial. It allowed the appeal costs to proceed to adjudication, including McDonald’s limited costs, so that amounts and set-offs can be determined and interest on costs can apply. Further steps, including enforcement of the appeal-cost orders, are stayed. Adjudication and enforcement of the High Court costs orders are both stayed so those costs can be assessed together after the retrial.
The court said refusing a stay risked undermining McDonald’s ability to pursue the retrial, which it had previously found was required in the interests of justice. The ruling did not determine the claims that remain for the High Court.