Two fuel suppliers, who say they have grazed their horses on a two-acre field in Co Dublin for the last 15 years, yesterday lodged a High Court claim to the ownership of the plot worth many millions of euro as development land.
The claim is being made by Derek Squires, Rossfield Avenue, Brookfield estate, Tallaght, and his business partner, Stephen Fitzgerald, also from Tallaght, against Citywest Ltd and the IDA.
George Brady SC, counsel for the two Tallaght businessmen, said their application related to a claim for adverse possession of the lands in Fortunestown Lane, Co Dublin, next to a recent large development for Lidl.
Mr Brady, who appeared with Paul O'Shea, said his clients had entered into an agreement with Larry McMahon on September 11th, 1991, for the hire of a yard for the exclusive storage of domestic oil.
He said the yard was adjacent to the two acres at Fortunestown Lane which Mr Squires and Mr Fitzgerald utilised for the grazing of their horses.
They had continued to graze the lands until Wednesday of this week.
Mr Brady said permission had been given to a construction worker to open a gap into the field from the main road for the purpose of machinery access for the building of a wall between Lidl and the field.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, heavy earth-moving machinery had been brought on to the land and their horses were let roam freely on to the public road. A large area of grass and top soil had been moved in the field.
Mr Squires said that since the land had been in his and Mr Fitzgerald's exclusive possession and control since 1991, the defendants, Citywest Ltd and Industrial Development Agency (Ireland) Ltd, had no right or title to it.
Mr Squires and Mr Fitzgerald were granted leave to seek an interlocutory injunction next Wednesday restraining further works in the field.