Recent cases published on the Courts website are listed below.
Criminal Law
People (DPP) v Connolly, Aaron
18/5/2026 No. 260/2022 [2026] IECA 107
Criminal law - Conviction - Offence of murder - Appellant appealing against conviction on various grounds including whether the judge erred in law by telling the jury that he and the Gardaí did not accept the account the appellant gave when questioned by the Gardaí - Whether the judge's charge to the jury amounted to impermissible advocacy for the prosecution - Whether the judge was excessively critical of the instructions of the appellant to his legal team - Whether there was a lack of balance and engagement in advocacy - Court held it was not appropriate for the judge to have unburdened himself of his views on that subject before the jury in the middle of the trial - Appeal allowed
People (DPP) v Connolly, Aaron
People (DPP) v F (G)
7/5/2026 No. 142/2024 [2026] IECA 99
Criminal law - Conviction - Sexual offences against family members - Appellant appealing against his conviction - Anonymous letter allegedly from a juror sent to the appellant's solicitor - Whether the anonymous letter questioning the safety of a verdict can be used to challenge jury verdict - Appellant also complained that the jury was not discharged by the trial judge when a witness mistakenly referred to a sexual assault as "rape" during testimony - Court finds document could not render the verdict of the jury unsafe - Court satisfied that there was no basis for discharging the jury as the jury acquitted the defendant on that charge - Appeal dismissed
DPP v Ratinskis, Andrejs
11/6/2026 No. 2025/139 [2026] IESC 33
Criminal law - Drunk driving offences - Conviction - Appellant appealing against a decision of the High Court quashing the drunk driving conviction of the respondent - Whether the High Court erred insofar as it held that there was a legal requirement to prove a chain of custody for forensic samples - Evidence - Statutory certificates - Whether the trier of fact can be satisfied with the identity and integrity of the sample in question - Whether any analysis of the sample can be relied upon as proof of any relevant issue - Appeal allowed
Employment
Hegarty, Raymond v Commissioner of An Garda Síochána
22/5/2026 No. 2025 1340 JR [2026] IEHC 332
Employment - Misconduct - Disciplinary procedures - Applicant a member of An Garda Síochána - Applicant admitted he engaged in sexual interactions with a woman in an interview room in a Garda station - Applicant suspended and his dismissal as a member of An Garda Síochána considered as his continued membership would undermine public confidence in An Garda Síochána and his dismissal would be necessary to maintain that confidence - Applicant seeking judicial review of suspension and dismissal notices - Whether the suspension notice failed to comply with the mandatory statutory requirement to notify the applicant of the proposed duration of the suspension - Discretionary powers - Whether the newly appointed commissioner could proceed with dismissal based on the reasoning of a predecessor - Court rejects the challenge to the dismissal process and refused to quash the notification issued by the Commissioner - Court finds the notice of suspension to be invalid - Relief granted in part
Hegarty, Raymond v Commissioner of An Garda Síochána
European Union Law
B v International Protection Appeals Tribunal and ors
11/6/2026 No. 2025 1461 JR [2026] IEHC 359
European Union law - International protection applicant - Application for labour market access permission - Application refused - Applicant appealing the refusal to the first respondent - Whether Art. 15 of the Reception Conditions Directive (Directive 2013/33/EU) confines the right to labour market access for international protection applicants only to those who have suffered undue delay in receiving a first instance decision on their international protection application - Whether such a right is also available where there has been undue delay at appellate stage - Court held that the third respondent and first were correct to take the view that the applicant was not entitled to the labour market access he contended for arising from alleged delays - Application refused
B v International Protection Appeals Tribunal and ors
Immigration
Hamed, Louai v Minister for Justice
21/5/2026 No. 2024 561 JR [2026] IEHC 222
Immigration - Judicial review - Visas - Applicant a Dutch national - Applicant's wife a Sudanese national - Applicant challenging the refusal of visas to the three members of his wife's family on various grounds - Spouse's family were dependent on the applicant and his wife for the provision of financial assistance - Discrepancies in documentation submitted at first instance - Whether receipt of an important document regarding the family's dependency on the applicant warranted reopening of the appeal - Court granted certiorari of the respondent's decisions - Application granted
Hamed, Louai v Minister for Justice
Injunctions
Tucker, Martin v Curry, Elizabeth
4/6/2026 No. 2021 4163 P [2026] IEHC 346
Injunction - Interlocutory injunction - Plaintiff seeking interlocutory injunctions against the defendant - Defendant seeking to strike out the plaintiff’s claim on the grounds that it disclosed no reasonable cause of action - Central to both of those applications was the question of whether the defendant was under a contractual obligation to put the proceeds of pension policies of which she was the beneficiary towards redemption of a mortgage which the plaintiff and defendant held in respect of a property - Whether the plaintiff satisfied the threshold test for an interlocutory injunction - Whether damages would be an adequate remedy - Balance of justice - Court refused the plaintiff’s application for interlocutory injunctions and refused the defendant’s application for orders striking out the plaintiff’s claim
Tucker, Martin v Curry, Elizabeth
Insolvency Law
Dunne, Sean and ors v Lehane, Christopher and ors
22/5/2026 No. 2025 466 P [2026] IEHC 331
Insolvency law - Bankruptcy - Appointments of official assignees in bankruptcy - Procedure - Plaintiffs challenging the validity of the appointments of the first and second defendants as official assignees in bankruptcy as well as the director of the Insolvency Service of Ireland - Whether there is a lawful and sufficient statutory basis for the appointments - Defendants assert that the appointments are valid and in accordance with law - Court finds the plaintiffs are not entitled to a declaration that the appointments were not made in compliance with statute and are therefore invalid, unlawful, null and void ab initio - Reliefs refused
Dunne, Sean and ors v Lehane, Christopher and ors
Medical Treatment
B [F] [a minor], In the matter of and in the matter of an intended application for minor wardship
15/5/2026 No. WOC 11920 [2026] IEHC 341
Medical treatment - F B an 8 month old baby suffering from sickle cell disease - Applicant seeking various orders including consent to allow the hospital to provide an urgent blood transfusion to the minor in circumstances where she was very ill - Minor's mother, for religious reasons, is not prepared to consent to the transfusion for her baby - Court satisfied by clear and convincing evidence that the decision of the mother was one which prejudicially affected the safety, welfare and the life of F B - Court proposed making the orders sought by the applicant - Application granted
B [F] [a minor], In the matter of and in the matter of an intended application for minor wardship
Personal Injuries
Kinsella, James v Carter, Ian
21/5/2026 No. 2023 2661 P [2026] IEHC 319
Personal injuries - Psychiatric injury - Liability - Damages claim - Medical negligence - Substantial overdose of medication administered to the plaintiff's wife (the deceased) - Error caused a sudden and catastrophic medical event - Whether damages for the plaintiff’s psychiatric injury diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were recoverable - Nervous shock claims - Legal framework - Kelly v Hennessy [1995] 3 IR 253 - Submissions - Whether a hospital owes a duty of care to a patient and not to the spouse of a patient - Court is satisfied that the recognised control mechanisms namely proximity, foreseeability and a sudden shock-induced event are present - Damages awarded to the plaintiff in the sum of €101,368
Planning and Development
Abbey Park and District Residents Association Baldoyle, and John Oliver McCann v An Coimisiún Pleanála and Rondesere Ltd [notice party]
16/6/2026 No. 2024 1088 JR [2026] IEHC 365
Planning and development - Judicial review - Proposed residential development - Grant of planning permission - Applicants seeking certiorari quashing the respondent’s decision to permit the notice party to build a proposed development - Material contravention - Public open spaces - Failure to provide reasons for non-compliance with playground provision requirements - Whether the respondent provided adequate reasons for its decision - Whether the respondent acted in breach of ss. 34(4) and 37(1)(b) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 - Application granted
Duffy, Michael v An Coimisiún Pleanála and Clare County Council; and Uisce Éireann (notice party)
22/5/2026 No. 2025 1365 JR [2026] IEHC 322
Planning and development - Judicial review - Wastewater treatment plant - Grant of planning permission - Decision granting planning permissions for amendments to the consented wastewater treatment plant - Challenge - Applicant seeking an order of certiorari overturning the order made by the first respondent to grant planning permission - Inadequate environmental assessments - Burden of proof - Whether the applicant discharged the onus of proof - Court held that the applicant failed to discharge the onus of proof required - Proceedings dismissed
Duffy, Michael v An Coimisiún Pleanála and Clare County Council; and Uisce Éireann (notice party)
Practice and Procedure
Griffin, Alan v Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, Minister for Justice, Ireland and Attorney General; Deegan, Niall v Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, Minister for Justice, Ireland and Attorney General; Shanahan, John v Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, Minister for Justice, Ireland and Attorney General
12/5/2026 Nos. 2024 321 JR; 2024 336 JR; 2024 320 JR [2026] IEHC 330
Practice and procedure - Applicants members of the gardaí - Applicants suspended on foot of allegations relating to the "squaring" away of penalty points notices - Challenge to suspensions - Breach of fair procedures - Suspensions vitiated by delay - Suspension notices did not contain sufficient reasons for their imposition - Applicants seeking to have their judicial review proceedings converted to plenary proceedings or to have orders made permitting cross-examination of the respondents’ deponents - Court not satisfied that the applicants had identified a sufficient basis for converting the proceedings to plenary proceedings - Application for orders permitting cross-examination granted
Professional Misconduct
Teaching Council v N (M)
18/5/2026 No. 2026 193 MCA [2026] IEHC 345
Professional misconduct - Teacher - Complaint - Inappropriate relationship with student - Disciplinary procedures - Sanctions - Suspension and imposition of conditions on teacher's registration - Applicant seeking orders confirming the decision that the respondent be suspended from the register of teachers with conditions - Whether the decision was one which no reasonable professional disciplinary or regulatory body could make - Assessment of Court's role in confirming a disciplinary body's sanction decision under Section 44(5) of the Teaching Council Act 2001 - Submissions - Mitigating and aggravating factors - Application granted
Wills
O'Farrell, John Joseph, In the matter of the estate of
21/5/2026 No. PO 2025 12769 [2026] IEHC 328
Wills - Probate - Removal of executor - Alleged conflict of interest over a contract for the sale of the deceased's land - Contract mentioned in the Will where the deceased acknowledged he was contractually bound to transfer the lands in question to the executor- Enforcement of contract - Applicant seeking to remove the respondent as executor - Whether there were grounds for removing the executor - Whether the executor could be accused of "serious misconduct" - Court finds there are no grounds for removing the executor - Application refused
O'Farrell, John Joseph, In the matter of the estate of
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