Farmer wins fight to keep land

A farmer has won a Supreme Court bid to stop the IDA forcing him to sell land that has been in his family for more than a century.

Thomas Reid, whose farm adjoins the Intel site in Leixlip, Co Kildare, had sued the IDA and the State after the IDA notified him of its intention to acquire the land.

Five Supreme Court judges unanimously overturned a High Court decision and ruled the compulsory purchase could not go ahead.

Mr Reid sued both the IDA and the State after the IDA decided to compulsorily acquire his 72-acre property consisting of farmland and the family home at Blakestown in Co Kildare.

The IDA argued it was entitled to acquire Mr Reid’s lands under powers granted to it in the Industrial Development Act.

Mr Reid, 53, who did not want to sell the land, claimed the IDA’s decision was flawed and unfair. He also claimed it breached his property rights as well as his rights under the Constitution and European Convention of Human Rights.

In 2013, the High Court held the proposed compulsory purchase of the land was provided for by law.

In a unanimous decision, a five-judge Supreme Courtoverturned the High Court decision..

Giving the court’s decision, Mr Justice William McKechnie said the compulsory purchase order was made in excess of the IDA’s powers under the 1986 Act.

Questions the court had to consider included whether the IDA had power to assemble a landbank otherwise than by agreement and in a situation where it had not identified the industrial user to ultimately benefit from the acquisition.

Afterwards a delighted Mr Reid shook hands with his legal team. All outstanding matters, including liability of legal costs, will be decided at a later date.