Brian O’Driscoll and fellow holiday home owners take new action in dispute with management firm

Former rugby international Brian O’Driscoll is among a number of holiday home owners in Co Wexford who lodged a new set of High Court proceedings this week as part of an ongoing dispute with a management company.

The proceedings were lodged to keep alive an agreement entered into between the parties in 2017 as part of a High Court dispute that goes back more than a decade and which shows no signs of being resolved.

Mr O’Driscoll is one of more than 50 plaintiffs in proceedings against Seafield Demesne Management Ltd in relation to service fees and other matters in respect of houses on the grounds of the Seafield Hotel in Ballymoney, Seafield, Gorey, Co Wexford.

It is understood there are approximately 60 houses on the grounds, with the owners of only some of the houses being involved in the court proceedings.

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The hotel, which was originally a hotel and golf resort, was developed by brothers David and Stephen Cullen, who were also behind the development of the Turk’s Head Bar, and the Paramount Hotel, both in Temple Bar, Dublin. David Cullen is also involved in the more recent development of the Clontarf Baths in Dublin 3.

The brothers are the owners of the management company the home owners are in dispute with over the level of service charges being sought. At one stage, the management company cut off the water from a number of the homes as part of the dispute, leading to the residents affected going to court in 2012 where they succeeded in getting an order that the water be turned back on.

Those proceedings led to a High Court agreement in 2017 which has never been implemented to the satisfaction of the two sides. More recently, there has been a demand for arrears of service charges, which the residents are objecting to as they say the 2017 agreement has not been adhered to, in particular in relation to the transfer of the management of common areas to the residents.

It is understood it was in order to stop the 2017 High Court agreement from becoming out of date from a legal standpoint that new proceedings were lodged in the High Court this week. Court records show that the earlier set of proceedings has involved multiple instances of the case being mentioned in court over the years, with the most recent such mention happening earlier this month.

Mr O’Driscoll, whose parents are also parties to the High Court dispute, was engaged as a promoter of the resort when it was first being developed by the Cullens. Attempts to contact Mr O’Driscoll and Seafield were met with no response.