Estimated £3m costs awarded against Bula

AN estimated £3 million bill for costs in the legal action over the Bula mine at Navan, Co Meath, was awarded against Bula Ltd (in receivership), Bula Holdings, and directors, Mr Michael Wymes and Mr Richard Wood, in the High Court yesterday.

Last week Mr Justice Lynch rejected claims by Mr Wymes and Mr Wood that the Minister for Energy and neighbouring Tara Mines were responsible for the failure to bring the Bula mine into production.

It is estimated that total costs of all proceedings involving the Bula mine are presently about £6 million but that the costs of the 10 years of the litigation which was before Mr Justice Lynch was about £3 million.

Mr Justice Lynch granted a stay on three quarters of the costs in the event that the Bula companies, Mr Wymes and Mr Wood decide to appeal to the Supreme Court and that they expedite the appeal.

The judge said the trial had been in court for 277 days - between December 14th, 1993, and November 19th, 1996. He was satisfied the amount of time wasted on pursuing issues which were abandoned far exceeded the 20 to 25 days suggested by lawyers on behalf of Bula and its directors.

He had come to the conclusion there should be no stay on costs of one quarter of the trial. So far as there might be an error in the proportion of one quarter of the costs, he was satisfied the error would favour Bula, Mr Wymes and Mr Wood.

He said he would give Tara and the Minister liberty to apply to the court for the removal of the stay should there be a failure on the part of the Bula companies and its directors to honour the undertaking.

An application for costs against Mr Thomas Roche snr and Mr Thomas Roche jnr, who were also Bula directors, was adjourned until Friday, February 21st. The Roches withdrew from legal proceedings after an estimated 20 days of the 277 day hearing.

Mr John McBratney, counsel for the Roches, said Mr Roche - senior was elderly and had not taken any active part in Bula matters for sometime. Mr Roche junior was in the US and had only got a copy of the court's judgment on Monday.

Mr Frank Clarke SC, for Tara and Mr James Connolly SC, for the Minister, and Mr Michael O'Connell, who represented the Minister on the board of Bula Ltd claimed there should not be a stay on the costs of 104 days of the hearing.