A judge who sued a travel company after a bitterly disappointing family holiday lost his case at Cork Circuit Court yesterday.
Circuit Court Judge Harvey Kenny, his wife, and their two teenage daughters booked what was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime in Florida in December 1994 and paid £4,600 for the trip.
But they claimed when they arrived at Clearwater Resort on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida, it was a "ghost town" with deserted beaches, empty restaurants and bars and no available water sports. Bitterly disappointed, they returned home early.
The Kenny family sued Budget Travel Ltd jointly with Angela Ryan, Travel Agent, of Cork.
Judge Joseph Mathews dismissed the case against Budget Travel, but did rule in the Kenny family's favour on one issue, which dealt with a mini-cruise to Miami arranged by Angela Ryan.
The judge said that Judge Kenny stated in evidence he wanted two cabins for the cruise but was given only one. He awarded Judge Kenny £1,780 damages, based on cabin prices at the time, plus appropriate costs against Angela Ryan.
However, he dismissed the case against Budget Travel and said that the Kennys had been most unfortunate in encountering the worst weather experienced in that part of Florida in 30 years, bar one. He awarded Budget Travel costs of 1 1/2 days on the Circuit Court scale.
During yesterday's hearing, Mr. Paul Hackett, who worked for Budget at the time of the Kenny holiday, denied to Ms Lorraine O'Sullivan, counsel for the Kennys, they did not care enough about the off-season market and had not done enough research.
Mr Neil Mayhew, a senior manager at Clearwater, said the Kennys were housed in the Gulf Court building, which was considered to be one of the best the hotel had.