Healy-Rae disputes right of way claim by neighbour
Mr Healy-Rae arrived linked by his wife, Eileen, and accompanied by his children.
The court was told by a barrister for Healy-Rae that the dispute over the right of way was “not all one-way traffic” and that the attempted erection of a gate by Mr Healy-Rae on Saturday last was in response to a gateway being erected by neighbouring landowner Patrick Kieran Traynor, of Riverside Farm, Kilgarvan.
An alleged altercation over the right of way between the sides led to both Mr Healy-Rae and Con Traynor, of Ards, Kilgarvan, brother of Patrick Kieran Traynor, being hospitalised last weekend.
Both men have since been released but they are still under medical supervision.
The Traynors had yesterday been seeking an interim injunction restraining Mr Healy-Rae, from obstructing them in using a right of way from the public road to their lands and from assaulting them while exercising their right of way.
They were given permission earlier this week to seek the interim injunction.
However, the application did not go ahead. Both parties had reached “an interim agreement pending a full hearing”, counsel told Judge Carroll Moran yesterday.
This followed a day of negotiations between the sides. Pending the hearing of the action, we have entered an agreement so the status quo can be maintained,” counsel for Mr Healy-Rae, Henry Downing, told the court.
Mr Downing said “assertions” made against his client had received a lot of press coverage and would be fully disputed.
“The position of my client is we dispute the right of way and if there ever was a right of way, it is long since abandoned,” Mr Downing said.
“This did not come out of the blue. A gateway was put up by my client in response to a gateway put up by the Traynors the previous Thursday. This is not all one-way traffic,” Mr Downing said.
Brian McInerney, counsel for Mr Traynor, said it would become clear “where right rests” in the fullness of time.
“Other matters” would also be raised during a full and vigorous hearing, Mr McInerney added.
Judge Carroll Moran said he noted an interim agreement pending a hearing.
The application was not heard because the parties agreed after negotiations that certain matters will be put in place pending the hearing of the case.
It is understood that the gate in the passageway will be opened as part of the interim agreement.
Padraig J O’Connell however refused to comment on the detail of the interim agreement except to say that his clients, the Traynors, were “extremely pleased with the outcome of the interim agreement reached today and were looking forward to litigating the matter in full”.
Some of the best known figures in Kerry were in court yesterday.
Danny arrived in a neck collar, walking with the aid of a stick. Patrick Kieran Traynor was accompanied by his brother-in-law and former chairman of Kerry IFA, Flor McCarthy.
Other well known figures included the former Kerry footballer Eoin Brosnan, solicitor, who represents Mr Healy-Rae.
