Ferry company fails to have rival jailed over competing services

A director of a Doolin, Co Clare, ferry company has successfully fought off attempts by a rival firm to have him jailed.

In the feud between ferry rivals, Judge Carroll Moran ruled that Kevin O'Brien of Doolin Aran Ferries breached a court order aimed at ending the continuing standoff at Doolin, which acts as the Co Clare gateway to the Aran Islands.

However, Judge Moran said the breach of the order was not to the extent that it warranted finding Mr O'Brien in contempt that would result in imprisonment.

After hearing 7½ hours of evidence in Ennis Circuit Court, the exasperated judge asked the parties: "When is all this going to stop? This is the third time that the case has come before me, and I don't want to see this coming before me again."

Judge Moran criticised the "perpetual litigation and the perpetual surveillance being used by parties in the dispute in anticipation of future litigation.

"Then there is the amount of time and money wasted in this and the stress on both sides in hoping to get the advantage on the other."

Judge Moran - who visited Doolin harbour during the proceedings - said: "There is no black and white in this. There is a large amount of grey and there is a lot of fault on both sides."

The case was being heard in response to proceedings brought by Aran Islands Fast Ferries, claiming that Mr O'Brien had once more breached the order.

Judge Moran said he was fairly happy that Kevin O'Brien was in breach of the order, including Mr O'Brien taking photos of bicycles being loaded on to a boat operated by rival AIFF.

Last year Mr O'Brien and Bill O'Brien were jailed for one night by Judge Moran after being found in contempt of the court order, which restrains the two from threatening or assaulting AIFF staff, while it also put in place an exclusion zone around the offices of both companies, which are only 18 metres apart.

In his ruling, however, Judge Moran accepted the evidence of Bill O'Brien about an incident at the pier earlier this year, finding that ticket sales manager with AIFF, John Lawless, had been triumphalist in front of passengers over the jailing of the two O'Briens last year.

Concluding, Judge Moran said: "The last thing I want out of this is any party to feel that they are a winner.

"The one good bit to come of this is evidence from gardaí that there is far less disquiet at the pier than in previous years, and the gravity of the allegations is less serious than last year's."