The operator of a shop on Galway’s Salthill promenade has been refused a High Court injunction preventing the sale of tubs of frozen fruit from a kiosk just 350m away.
Blackrock Cottage Development Ltd, which operates a purpose-built shop at the end of the promenade, claimed its sales of a certain frozen fruit-based tub or boat – produced by Alainn Superfoods of Gort – had been severely affected by the sale of product from an outlet called “The Kiosk”.
Blackrock claimed it has an exclusive agreement with Alainn to sell the tubs in the Salthill/Knocknacarra area, which Alainn was now breaching through the kiosk sales which was more prominently positioned along the promenade than Blackrock’s shop.
The claims were denied by Alainn.
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Judge Siobhan Stack said the contract between the parties “was not terribly clear”, but the balance of convenience favoured not granting an injunction.
She said an injunction would have meant shutting down part of the kiosk business at the busiest time of the year for such outlets.
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Blackrock Cottage was also not able to show there was any threat to its business and no evidence of books and records was presented to show a catastrophic or even very serious effect on the business from the kiosk, she said.
The judge also said there was a complete dispute between the parties about the meaning of the agreement between them and that would be a matter for the hearing of the full case.
The judge agreed to a request from barrister Hugh Byrne, for Alainn Superfoods, to award the defendant the costs of the injunction application. Patrick Keane, solicitor for Blackrock, asked that costs be left to the full hearing.
The judge added that this dispute seemed “ripe for mediation”, especially when one looked at the amount of money paid for the contract.
