The High Court ordered Jean Connors to pay personally the costs of her unsuccessful application for an interlocutory injunction concerning development works at 10 Casement Park, Bray. The order is stayed until the underlying proceedings are determined.
Mr Justice Mark Sanfey ruled on costs and related orders after refusing the injunction in a judgment delivered on 8 November 2021. The December judgment addresses the terms of the order. The judge said the costs application could be decided separately from the trial because the injunction application turned on issues that would not be revisited there.
Connors is administrator of the estate of the late Frances Kinsella and also a beneficiary. Her proceedings seek to set aside a lifetime transfer of the property to the first named defendant, Daniel Kinsella. She argued that costs should be reserved or made costs in the cause, and that any costs order should not be against her personally. Her submissions included allegations of duress or undue influence, which remain issues in the underlying proceedings.
The judge said the estate had no assets and that Connors had given an undertaking as to damages in her capacity as administrator. He accepted that justice may sometimes protect an administrator from personal costs liability when litigation is brought on reasonable grounds and conducted bona fide for an estate. But he found this injunction application was a discrete, stand-alone matter and described it as unmeritorious. The balance of convenience had decisively favoured Daniel Kinsella, who owned the property and was carrying out works authorised by planning permission; the judge said the works were not likely to devalue it.
The court ordered the application’s costs in favour of Daniel Kinsella, payable by Connors personally and without qualification or restriction. Enforcement is stayed until the proceedings are determined, which may affect how the order is executed. The judge declined to stay the discharge of the interim orders pending a possible appeal.
The court also ordered an inquiry into damages under Connors’s undertaking, adjourning that inquiry to the trial by agreement. Daniel Kinsella must particularise his damages claim and provide supporting documents well in advance of trial. The judge granted him leave to deliver an amended defence, which Connors did not oppose, and included liberty to apply for directions on progressing the proceedings where necessary.