The High Court has dismissed Sandra Dunlea’s judicial review claims against the State respondents after finding that she took no step in the proceedings for more than three years and gave no explanation for the delay.
In a judgment delivered on 14 May 2024, Mr Justice Conleth Bradley said the delay was inordinate and inexcusable, and that the balance of justice favoured dismissal. The application was brought by the State respondents, who sought to have Ms Dunlea’s claims against them dismissed for want of prosecution.
The underlying case concerns An Bord Pleanála’s decision of 25 April 2019 to allow an appeal against Kerry County Council’s December 2018 grant of planning permission to Ms Dunlea. The permission was for a dwelling, wastewater treatment unit, soil polishing filter, entrance and access road, and associated works at Barleymount West, Killarney, County Kerry. The judgment records that her central challenge was to the Board’s decision.
Her claims against the State respondents included arguments that rural housing policy should be interpreted in light of her and her family’s constitutional property and family rights, and that the policies impermissibly restricted those rights. Those claims were not substantively decided in the dismissal application.
The State respondents said they had repeatedly tried to engage with Ms Dunlea and her solicitors over a period of three years, including inviting her to discontinue her claims against them. The judge found that the applicant and her solicitors had been served with and notified of the dismissal application and its hearing date. No one appeared for Ms Dunlea at the motion’s return date on 24 April, at a call-over on 9 May, or at the hearing on 13 May 2024. The Board and the notice parties did not participate in this application.
Justice Bradley proceeded under the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction. He left open whether Order 122, rule 11 of the Rules of the Superior Courts applied to judicial review proceedings, saying that issue should be considered in a case where it was fully argued. He dismissed Ms Dunlea’s claims against all State respondents. The judgment does not dismiss her claims against An Bord Pleanála or determine the underlying planning challenge.