High Court costs ruling wait ‘like a sword over my head’

A farmer who faces the risk of losing his 100-acre dairy holding said yesterday it was like a sword over his head, after a High Court judge put off a decision on who will pay the costs of a six-day court challenge to a €70m Tipperary windfarm.

Ned Buckley said he and his family may now have to wait months or even years until a Supreme Court decision in a similar case about legal costs to find out if they will have to fork out what is believed to be a six-figure sum.

“We could lose our farm,” Mr Buckley said outside the Four Courts. “It is a huge worry in the back of our minds for the next six, 18 months or even more.