Broadcaster Pat Kenny has refused to suspend maintenance of a portion of land adjoining his home which is at the centre of a legal dispute with his neighbour, the High Court was told today.
Mr Gerard Charlton, a retired solicitor, had tried and failed to secure such an undertaking pending the outcome of proceedings over the land in Dalkey, Co Dublin, Mr Justice Frank Clarke was told.
The full hearing of the dispute between the neighbours will be held next year.
The dispute between Pat and Cathy Kenny and their next door neighbours, Mr Charlton (72) and his wife Maeve, centres on who owns the lands known as Gorse Hill which adjoin their properties.
The Charltons claim to be the legal owners of the rocky outcrop while the Kennys dispute that and claim any title the Charltons may have had has been extinguished by adverse possession [squatters rights].
Mr Charlton, of Maple Tree House, Harbour Road, Dalkey rejects the Kennys' claim to squatters rights - which can apply where a property has been abandoned for 12 or more years.
Mr Kenny is claiming he locked the property from public access 16 years ago and that it has been inaccessible since then except by scaling a cliff.
Ms Eileen Barrington BL, for the Charltons, told the court today that the defendants were continuing to use the property for "gardening and maintenance" purposes as if it was their own.
Her clients were concerned about this and felt that the inspection process could be prejudiced as a result.
Counsel said her clients were prepared to enter a reciprocal arrangement with the defendants not to use the property pending a full hearing of the case but the defendants had not agreed.
In the absence of such an agreement, she intended to bring a motion to that effect on December 10th, counsel added.
Mr Lyndon MacCann SC, for the Kennys, rejected the suggestion that his clients were impeding a horticultural inspection process by continuing to carry out routine maintenance.
He said it was the Kennys' garden, they had access to it for more than 12 uninterrupted years and they would continue to garden it because it was theirs.
Mr Justice Clarke said that if Ms Barrington is to bring a motion on the matter, it should be issued and served within ten days returnable for December 10th, when a number of other issues will also be dealt with.