The High Court has refused to dismiss a claim alleging that a priest acting for Our Lady Queen of Peace Achill House of Prayer Limited unduly influenced James McCormack into giving €200,000 in 2005. The court did not decide whether undue influence occurred or whether the claim will succeed at trial.
The defendant sought to have the proceedings dismissed as statute-barred or, alternatively, because of delay and the equitable doctrine of laches. The action began in July 2016, about 11 years after the alleged payment. James McCormack died five days after proceedings were commenced; his son, Patrick McCormack, pursued the case as representative of his estate. The judge said there was no issue with Patrick McCormack’s standing at this stage, while noting that a grant of probate would be needed before the action’s hearing.
The claim alleges that the late James McCormack and his wife, Mary, were vulnerable and that Father Gerard McGinnity used his position as a spiritual adviser to exert pressure. The defendant denies the allegations and says any donation was freely made. Accounts in affidavits also differed over whether the defendant’s representatives visited the couple’s home. The judge did not resolve these factual disputes.
The defendant argued that the six-year limitation period applied and that the deceased’s death left it unable to cross-examine him. It also said a former representative, Majella Meade, could not be located, and that the documentary evidence did not explain the nature of the transaction. The plaintiff’s side relied, among other matters, on alleged continuing spiritual influence and the late James McCormack’s later Alzheimer’s diagnosis. The court accepted the defendant’s submission that there was no evidence he had a relevant disability when the cause of action accrued, if the statutory limitation rules applied.
However, the judge found that the pleadings invoked the court’s equitable jurisdiction over undue influence. She was not able at this stage to decide whether the plaintiff had delayed unreasonably, given the allegation that the priest’s spiritual influence continued until James McCormack’s death.
The court acknowledged that the passage of time and the deceased’s death created difficulties for the defence. But it found that this prejudice was not sufficient to strike out the case, particularly as the defendant had witnesses available. The court also gave little weight to the assertion that Meade could not be found because no evidence had been presented about efforts to locate her.
The application to dismiss was refused. The underlying claim remains for trial, with no determination made on its merits.