The High Court has refused a fresh attempt by Gerard Scriven to have long-running receivership proceedings dismissed and to lift an injunction dating from 2014.
In a judgment delivered on 28 January 2026, Mr Justice Kennedy held that his earlier January 2025 ruling refusing to strike out the case for want of prosecution was a final determination of that application and could not be reopened simply because the Supreme Court subsequently refined the law on litigation delay.
The proceedings concern eight properties over which receivers Luke Charleton and Michael Cotter were appointed in 2014. The earlier judgment recorded that Scriven owed about €4.25 million and had made no payments since 2013. The receivers obtained an interlocutory injunction restraining interference with rent collection, while undertaking not to sell the properties pending trial.
Scriven relied principally on two later Supreme Court decisions, Kirwan v Connors and Tweedswood v Power. Kirwan made it easier in some cases to dismiss proceedings after prolonged delay, while Tweedswood reaffirmed that interlocutory relief may be lifted where a claimant fails to progress litigation.
Mr Justice Kennedy accepted that Scriven’s earlier dismissal application might have had better prospects had the Kirwan test already been available. However, he held that this did not entitle the High Court to reopen a final judgment. The proper route was an appeal, not a second attempt before the same judge.
The court also refused to lift the injunction. It noted that the receivers had proceeded diligently since the earlier hearing and that there was now no fresh delay justifying intervention.
A separate complaint about how rental income had been used was also rejected at this stage. The judge found no clear basis to conclude that the receivers had breached the Supreme Court’s order and said any remaining dispute could be dealt with at trial.
The application was dismissed in full. Costs were left open for short written submissions, with no order to be made if neither side pursued the issue.