A HIGH COURT judge has awarded a builder €18,704, plus costs, against the widow of a landowner arising from his work lobbying Dublin county councillors to secure land rezoning in the 1990s.
Patrick Cassidy had claimed he was entitled to a €2 million sum against Margaret Heneghan for services carried out for her late husband John which, Mr Cassidy alleged, resulted in the building of a €44 million housing scheme in Turvey, Donabate, Dublin.
Mr Justice Roderick Murphy previously ruled that Ms Heneghan, whose husband had fought for years to get permission to build on the family’s land at Turvey, was not obliged to pay Mr Cassidy €2 million for his services because there was no “concluded agreement” to that effect.
The judge did find Mr Cassidy was entitled to £60 an hour for 200 hours of work involved in lobbying councillors which, with other expenses, amounted to £15,000 (€18,704).
Mr Cassidy alleged he incurred expenses travelling from England, where he was working at the time, for rezoning meetings in Dublin and from buying drinks for some councillors in Conway’s pub near the council’s former offices at O’Connell Street.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Murphy awarded Mr Cassidy, Beaufield Lawns, Maynooth, Kildare, costs of six days of the nine-day High Court hearing of his proceedings.
As the matter could have been dealt with in the Circuit Court and a nine-day hearing in the High Court was excessive, Mr Justice Murphy said he was only awarding Mr Cassidy six days of costs at Circuit Court rates but would certify for the costs of senior counsel in the High Court.
Mr Cassidy, who described himself as a planning consultant, claimed Ms Heneghan and her family failed to abide by a 1991 agreement between himself and her late husband under which Mr Heneghan was to pay him €266,000 on a “no-foal no-fee” basis if planning permission was obtained.
He claimed he was to get four sites in Turvey plus the contract to develop drainage and roadworks for the proposed development.
Mr Justice Murphy ruled there was no evidence that Mr Heneghan, who died in 1996, and Mr Cassidy acted together in a joint venture or that Mr Heneghan was responsible for anyone else’s fees. Mr Cassidy was also not entitled to the payment of fees following the granting of planning permission.