The High Court has refused Maureen Kelly’s statutory appeal against a Residential Tenancies Board determination and ordered her to pay the RTB’s costs, including any reserved costs. It made no order on costs sought by the landlord, Miracove Holdings Limited, against Ms Kelly.
Mr Justice Conleth Bradley delivered the costs judgment on 22 January 2025, following his principal judgment refusing the appeal. The appeal concerned an RTB determination order made on 10 January 2024 under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended, relating to a dwelling at 52 Morehampton Road, Dublin 4. Miracove was the landlord and a notice party to the appeal.
The RTB and Ms Kelly agreed that the appeal’s refusal meant the RTB was entitled to its costs, including reserved costs. The judge ordered those costs to be adjudicated by the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators if the parties could not agree.
The remaining issue was whether Miracove should also recover costs from Ms Kelly. The company had not participated when the appeal was heard in September 2024. Its involvement included attending occasional mentions, filing two affidavits, and applying on 24 April 2024 for an expedited hearing. Its counsel sought costs, while Ms Kelly’s counsel opposed the application and submitted that Miracove had not objected to an early hearing date.
Mr Justice Bradley applied earlier High Court decisions concerning costs claimed by notice parties in statutory appeals. Those decisions say a notice party’s costs do not automatically follow the outcome; the court considers the extent and justification of its participation. The judge noted that the RTB was the appropriate party to defend its determination and had addressed the factual and legal matters considered in the principal judgment.
That earlier judgment had found sufficient evidence for the RTB to conclude that, when Miracove served a termination notice in June 2021, it intended to enter an enforceable agreement to transfer its whole interest in the property within nine months after the tenancy ended on 16 January 2022. The judge had identified the legislation, notice, statutory declaration, option agreement and other evidence as relevant; he had described company director Carol Morrissey’s evidence as neutral on that issue.
Although the judge said Miracove’s limited participation helped facilitate an expedited hearing and was commendable, he ruled that it did not justify an award of costs against Ms Kelly. The order therefore refused the appeal, awarded the RTB its costs subject to agreement or adjudication, and made no order on Miracove’s costs application.