Trump golf course right-of-way dispute resolved

A dispute over a public right of way at a golf course in Co Clare owned by a company of US presidential candidate Donald Trump has been resolved, the Supreme Court has heard.

Trump International Golf Links (TIGL) bought Doonbeg Golf Course and Hotel in 2014 when it went into receivership. Prior to this, local James McNulty had brought a legal challenge to a decision of Clare County Council to extinguish a right of way through the course to the beach.

It arose when Clare county councillors voted 22 to three in September 2009 to extinguish the right of way, ending the public’s ability to walk across the fourth and 14th fairways.

In 2011, the High Court dismissed his challenge because it was not brought within prescribed time limits. The court also held there was nothing wrong with the council’s proposal to have an alternative means of access.

Mr McNulty appealed that decision to the Supreme Court where the case was due to be heard yesterday.

The court heard however that the council has since decided it was not going ahead with the process of extinguishing the right of way. James Connolly, for the council, said there had been no response from the new owners, TIGL, to the extinguishment proposal.

Mr Justice Frank Clarke, on behalf of the three-judge court, said in view of the council’s decision, the appeal was now moot, or pointless. The only issue now was the legal costs in the High and Supreme Courts.

The council was prepared to allow the High Court costs order to be vacated and Mr McNulty would not pursue those costs, the judge noted.

However, Conleth Bradley, for Mr McNulty, sought the costs of the appeal in view of the fact the case became moot because of the decision by the council not to proceed with the process.

Mr Connolly opposed the application for costs because the sale of the golf course was outside the control of his client. The work on the alternative access to the beach, a condition of the extinguishment of the right of way, was a matter for a third party, not the council.

Mr Justice Clarke, following consultation, said this was a case in which a unilateral action by the council had resulted in the case being rendered moot and Mr McNulty was entitled to the costs of the appeal. The court struck out the case and vacated the High Court costs order against Mr McNulty.