D2 Private and its owner, Deirdre Foley, must pay the legal costs of their failed challenge against the powers of inspectors conducting an investigation into the collective redundancies at Clerys, the High Court has ruled.

A decision by inspectors investigating the collective redundancies of 460 Clerys’ workers to enter the offices of D2 Private Ltd was made legitimately and in the public interest following the “traumatic” redundancies, the High Court has been told.

A ‘directors’pack’ containing financial details about the iconic Clerys department store and its workforce was one of the reasons why inspectors sought documents at the offices of a Dublin-based property company, the High Court has heard.

The iconic Clerys department store was purchased following a number of secret meetings as part of a plan called ‘Project Clock’, the High Court has heard.

The owner of financier D2 Private Deirdre Foley was “directly involved in” the events, which immediately preceded the collective redundancies of 467 workers at Clery’s department store, inspectors investigating those redundancies have told the High Court.