Ruling in epic legal battle finds Ireland breached rights of Wicklow firm

IRELAND breached the rights of a Wicklow company involved in a series of lengthy legal actions against insurance firms which refused to pay out damages following a fire at a factory, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

The ruling brings to an end one of the longest and most expensive civil actions in Irish legal history in which the owner of a burnt-down plastics factory was seeking £90 million in damages.

Superwood Holdings and its executive chairman, Richard Bunyan, began legal proceedings against the group’s insurers in 1989.

The case arose out of a fire at the company’s plastics factory in Bray, Co Wicklow, in October 1987, for which Superwood originally claimed £2m in damages.

However, several insurers denied liability on the basis the claim was so exaggerated as to constitute fraud.

After Superwood lost its first High Court case against the insurers, an appeal to the Supreme Court was upheld in 1995 and the case was back in the High Court.

The retrial began in February 1997 and ended in March 2000.

The High Court ruled that three insurers were liable for £150,000 plus interest while Superwood settled a claim against a fourth insurer for almost £1.42m.

However, it also ruled that Superwood was liable for the costs of the re-trial.

The Supreme Court subsequently struck out an appeal by Superwood over its failure to lodge €1.6m as security for its appeal costs.

Superwood then took its case to Europe.

The European Court of Human Rights rejected the Government’s argument that Superwood failed to exhaust all domestic remedies as it had not taken any action before the Irish courts for breach of its constitutional right to an early trial.

However, it also acknowledged that proceedings were “procedurally, legally and factually complex” and formed two of the longest High Court trials in Irish civil litigation history.

The court blamed Superwood for contributing to the delay by making many applications to the Supreme Court.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ireland was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights on the grounds that the length of the present proceedings was excessive and failed to meet the “reasonable time” requirement of the legislation.

However, it dismissed several other complaints made by Superwood.

Although Superwood claimed €67,703, they were awarded just €3,800.