Former Dublin county registrar drops appeal in neighbour extension case

Irish Times

4 days ago

Former Dublin county registrar Rita Considine has dropped her appeal of a judge's dismissal of claims she brought against her next-door neighbours over an extension to the neighbours' home.
Last December, Judge Jennifer O'Brien in the Dublin Circuit Civil Court
threw out the case
, criticising Ms Considine's 'unnecessarily aggressive, threatening and litigious approach' in her dispute with Michael and Anne Flanagan, and their daughter, Sinead.
Ms Considine had sought damages for negligence, trespass and nuisance against the retired couple and their daughter, the legal owner of her parents' home 'at an address in Dublin'.
On Tuesday, the first of several scheduled hearing days in Ms Considine's High Court appeal, her senior counsel James Dwyer informed Ms Justice Sara Phelan that the appeal was being withdrawn.
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In the circumstances, the judge made an order affirming the decision of the Circuit Court. She said not having to proceed with the appeal was probably the 'most appropriate manner of dealing with things'.
The judge also made an order for costs in the appeal in favour of the Flanagans.
Mr Dwyer had submitted to the judge that there should be no order on costs.
Ted Harding SC, appearing with Eamon Marray SC for the Flanagans, said costs should be awarded to his side. He noted that Ms Considine's side waited until Tuesday's hearing before withdrawing the case, and put 'great cost' on his clients.
Granting an order for costs to the Flanagans, Ms Justice Phelan said she was of the view that Ms Considine's side had 'ample opportunity' to withdraw the appeal before Tuesday's hearing date.
Ms Considine, the current county registrar for Limerick and Clare, brought the Circuit Court case against her neighbours in November 2021.
In the proceedings, she claimed she entered into an agreement with the defendants in 2019 whereby she would not object to planning permission to their planned extension.
In return, she was told there would be no trespass on her property, all work would occur within the curtilage of the neighbours' property, a mature evergreen hedge between the properties would not be damaged and windows would be moved so they did not overlook her property.
Judge O'Brien ruled that there had been, at best, an 'understanding between neighbours' about how to proceed. She quoted the late SC Paul Anthony McDermott's book, Contract Law, which stated that 'generally good neighbours will assist each other without ever imagining that they are creating legally binding relations'.
Demolition and excavation work began in June 2021 and, after damage was noticed to a boundary wall, a meeting was held between representatives of the two property owners and an agreement reached.
Ms Considine claimed the agreement was subsequently breached and, among other matters, that the work carried out by her neighbours led to damp in the garage that she and her husband used as a home gym and utility room.
In their submissions, the Flanagans described as 'inexplicable' Ms Considine's refusal to engage in mediation, and said she and her husband had sought to 'weaponise their legal experience'.
In her judgment, Judge O'Brien said she was satisfied 'that [Ms Considine] adopted an unnecessarily aggressive, threatening and litigious approach from the outset'.
'The court accepts the contention proffered by the defendants that the plaintiff's conduct in this matter shows a determination on her part to pursue the claim to trial. This is a most unfortunate approach to take to any dispute, least of all a dispute between neighbours,' said the judge.