The High Court permits a construction firm to rapidly serve proceedings on companies within the Johnny Ronan cluster, due to a disagreement regarding the establishment of a €35 million office building in Cherrywood, Dublin’s southern region.
The organisations in question were brought to court by DLR Properties Ltd, due to conflicts with Ronan Group Real Estate Ltd and RGRE Devco 4 Ltd (RGRE 4). The plaintiff sought affirmation that their development accord was lawfully ceased due to infringements committed by the accused.
DLR also requested compensations and an injunction for deleting insinuations or affirmations on the Ronan Group website about any legal entitlements or interests the defendants may have regarding the planned office location. DLR called for revisions, restrictions on additional such printings, and defamation damages.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons approved expedited service of the legal proceedings to the defendants last Friday, upon receiving a unilateral application from DLR’s instructed attorneys, Marcus Dowling SC and Elizabeth Corcoran, headed by Amorys Solicitors’ Sharon Scally. The judge slated a return for the following week.
He further permitted DLR to commence proceedings to push the matter to arbitration.
The proposed office space constitutes 1.3 acres of a total 13.3 acre area in Cherrywood, Loughlinstown, with 12 acres zoned for urban centre real estate.
DLR states they struck a deal in May 2019, agreeing that DLR would handover the 12 acres to RGRE 4. In response, the latter would construct a 145,000sq ft office property on the remaining 1.3 acres, estimated to cost in excess of €35 million in 2019.
DLR’s CEO, Conor Dalton, declared in a sworn statement that RGRE 4 neglected to initiate the necessary measures to erect the building, thus violating their obligations as part of the development contract. Even after being issued notices, the defendant failed to confirm plans to initiate construction, Dalton noted.
Dalton further voiced concerns that RGRE 4 could incur damages, as the company never even vaguely suggested a possible defence strategy against the damage claims. The CEO voiced concerns about RGRE 4’s potential inability to handle such damages.
He added that RGRE 4 maintained that they had incurred expenses up to €4 million in relation to the agreement, but without any indication as to why.
DLR has raised grave alarm over what it calls imprecise threats to safeguard its own interests, contending that the agreement between the parties remains intact. DLR is particularly distressed over occurrences of defamation, trespassing, and false claims regarding the title, conducted by or on behalf of the defendants following the end of the agreement. One such occurrence involved third parties accessing the site by the directive of RGRE 4, utilising geological survey tools without prior consent.
DLR’s title has allegedly been defamed through false statements stated on Ronan Group’s online portal, claiming some legal or beneficial entitlement to the site. These declarations are knowingly false and crafted with harmful intentions, causing and potentially leading to further financial damage related to DLR’s property, as stated by DLR.
Aware that DLR aims to sell the site, the defendants understand that their false claims could cause considerable worry among likely bidders, potentially disrupting or delaying the sale process. On Friday, DLR also requested an injunction to inhibit RGRE 4 from lodging a “lis pendens” – a warning to any potential buyer of impending litigation – over DLR’s equity in the property.
Nonetheless, Mr Justice Simons expressed apprehensions regarding this request, especially in a situation where next week’s return of the case is imminent, coupled with the stickers on Ronan Group’s website and the anticipated publicity surrounding this case. He voiced that there would be no detrimental implications in refusing this relief at the current stage.