Judge urges Wicklow neighbours to solve hedge dispute

Neighbours in a scenic area of Co Wicklow are in dispute over a boundary hedge and lane way, the High Court has heard.

The typical blackthorn and whitethorn hedgerow has lined the lane at Askintinny, near Clogga Beach, Arklow, for about a century but is now subject of a legal row which already took a number of days to hear in the Circuit Court.

That court awarded James and Anne Madigan €5,000 for trespass and nuisance against their neighbour Kathleen Maureen Reuter and her children Marian and Sean who run a caravan park near the beach.

The court said the Madigans were entitled to a right of way on to the laneway for the purpose of maintaining their hedgegrow.

The Reuters appealed that decision to the High Court, which has heard the appeal is scheduled to last five days.

Before the appeal began, the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, urged both sides to take “an 11th-hour opportunity ” to resolve the case and put their differences aside.

He warned the parties costs in the High Court could be hundreds of thousands of euro. While he knew there were entrenched positions here, people have to co-exist and live side by side, the judge said.

He hoped if they settled the matter, they would look back in time on the outcome and see they had done the right thing.

The court heard an open offer has been made by the Reuters side to settle the case, which includes a €20,000 contribution towards legal costs previously incurred.

At the centre of the case is the alleged widening of the entrance to the laneway where it meets the public road and which the Madigans claim encroaches on their property.

When Mr Justice Kearns asked Mr Madigan if it was too late for common sense to prevail, he replied: “Afraid so” and said 20sq metres of the corner of his property was gone.

The Reuters deny all claims and have lodged a counter claim seeking a declaration they are entitled to exclusive ownership of the lane way and hedge.

The case continues.