Ierne Ballroom court case struck out after talks

A dispute between two men involved in the relaunch last summer of a landmark Dublin dance hall, the Ierne Ballroom, has been settled at the High Court.

James Cafferty and Ierne Entertainment Centre Ltd had sued Austin Kelly, a builder, of Brompton Grove, Castleknock, Dublin, and owner of the Ierne, over a lease for operation of the ballroom at Parnell Square, Dublin, and over the nature of works carried out for the relaunch of the Ierne.

The Ierne was one of the foremost venues of the 1960s showband era until it closed its doors in the 1980s. It reopened last June.

The full hearing of the dispute opened yesterday before Mr Justice Thomas Smyth. However, after talks between the sides later yesterday, the judge was told by Martin Hayden SC, for Mr Cafferty, with the consent of Robert Barron SC, for Mr Kelly, that the sides had resolved their differences and the case could be struck out with no order except that a bank draft of €43,000 lodged in court should be returned to the plaintiffs' solicitor.

In the proceedings, Mr Cafferty claimed he and Mr Kelly had reached an agreement last year under which Mr Kelly was to have refurbishment works and other measures done to facilitate the relaunch of the Ierne. He claimed there was a draft agreement under which Mr Kelly agreed that Mr Cafferty could operate the premises as a dance venue under a lease of four years and nine months and that Mr Cafferty was to pay €25,000 rent per annum.

However, Mr Hayden said, the agreed works, including installation of three bars and of an air conditioning system, were not fully completed. The Ierne was initially to have reopened in March last but that date was altered a number of times until the premises was officially reopened last June.

As a result of the alleged failure to complete the works, people who went dancing in the Ierne last summer suffered from the heat and there were a lot of complaints, Mr Hayden said. When windows were opened, neighbours had complained about the noise. Now given the time of year and the alleged failure to install a heating system, dancers were facing a risk of suffering from cold, he said.

Counsel said only two of the planned three bars were completed by the opening date of June 12th last while the downstairs bar was "unsafe and dangerous".

Some 500 people had attended the opening and it received considerable publicity but numbers had since declined and his client believed this was because the venue had come to be known as uncomfortable. This was due to Mr Kelly's failure to honour his obligations, counsel argued.

Mr Kelly had denied the claims and contended there was no concluded agreement between the sides.