Paul O’Grady BL

Recent cases include:

• Harford v Electricity Supply Board [2021] IECA 112, [2022] 2 IR 541. Tort — Negligence — Psychiatric injuries — Nervous shock — Conditions to be satisfied by plaintiff seeking to recover damages for negligent infliction of psychiatric injuries — Reasonable foreseeability — Policy considerations — Appreciation of injury having been avoided — Whether liability attaching to psychiatric injuries caused by realisation of having avoided injury — Whether requirement of shocking event retrospective (Counsel for the Appellant/Defendant, led by John Punch SC).
• Barry v Renaissance Security Services Ltd and Ors [2022] IECA 115. Personal Injury Law – Dismissal for Want of Prosecution – Appeal against the refusal to strike out a claim for want of prosecution due to inordinate and inexcusable delay, questioning whether the balance of justice favored the dismissal of the proceedings – Inordinate and inexcusable delay- Dismissal of proceedings – Balance of justice – Prejudice to plaintiff (Counsel for the Plaintiff/Respondent).
• The Governor and Company of Bank of Ireland v O’Brien [2020] IECA 29. Appellant seeking to set aside a judgment obtained in the Central Office against the appellant in default of appearance – Whether the trial judge erroneously concluded that orders were obtained regularly. Judgment in Default. Plaintiff sought to set aside a judgment obtained in the Central Office against the appellant in default of appearance (Counsel for the Defendant/Respondent).
• Promontoria (Gem) Dac v Redmond [2020] IECA 151. Order 86A, r.4. Statute of Limitations. Leave to adduce new evidence – Summary judgment – Plenary hearing – Appellants seeking leave to adduce new evidence – Whether the appellants had shown special circumstances which justified the court granting them each leave to adduce new evidence.  Test in Murphy v. Minister for Justice. The reasonable diligence test does not require a defendant to make a data access request of a predecessor in title of an assignee of a debt in order to obtain copies of letters of demand issued by the predecessor in title where the assignee seeks summary judgment against the defendant. (Counsel for the Defendant/Appellant).
• O’Mahoney v Tipperary County Council [2022] IECA 265. Personal injuries – Liability – New evidence – Plaintiffs appealing against the dismissal of their personal injuries claims – Whether the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims was erroneous.  In considering the competing views of experts, it is incumbent on a trial judge to analyse the views of each expert and come to a reasoned conclusion by, inter alia, the application of logic and common sense. Conclusion of the trial judge entirely unsupported, not just by any credible evidence at the trial, but any evidence at all. (Counsel for the Appellant/Plaintiff, led by Michael Counihan SC).
• Barry v Ennis Property Finance DAC [2018] IEHC 766. Guarantees – Interlocutory injunction – Secured property – Plaintiff seeking an interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from selling, possessing, trespassing upon or otherwise dealing with the secured property – Whether an application of the Campus Oil principles to the facts of this case resolved itself in favour of the plaintiff?