High court ruling 'vindicates' owners of Fahan marina
The High Court has ruled that the Department of Marine and Natural Resources acted outside its powers in imposing unreasonable conditions on Fahan Marina.
In an action taken by the Department against the marina's owners, Figary Watersports Development company Limited, Mr Justice McKechnie said the Department had failed in its duty regarding an application for 2.4m euro in European funding by the company. However, the judge also found that rent arrears of €115,000 were owed by the company.
Managing director of the Fahan Marina, JJ McDaid, told the 'Journal said the decision "vindicated" the firm which spent 4m euro on the project.
"This is a victory for us, working class people, who came up against the might of the State which used its power to block a project that was providing marine infrastructure in an area where there was none and in a deprived border region; a project that had not cost the taxpayer or the exchequer a cent up until these proceedings were taken. The might of the State was brought against us, with two senior barristers, two junior barristers and two solicitors from the Chief State Solicitors office and a team of staff members which on days were too numerous to count - even retired civil servants attended the court so as to watch the last nail being driven into our coffin. This was a form of intimidation from the onset. How are ordinary people suppose to have the finance to mount a defence against that?"
Mr McDaid added that: "This project could have received millions of euro of European grant money but that was blocked and I believe that this is the first time in Irish history that our government has blocked money coming into an Irish company."
Mr Mc Daid also hit out at the Government for wasting money on projects which never got off the ground.
"Today we have a successful marina and the only one ever constructed in Donegal. In relation to the Government projects, without one grain of sand having been removed from the beach, or one rock being placed at Rathmullan, they have squandered millions in consultancy fees and that's the reason that this country is in the state it's in today. They should hang their heads in shame.
Sinn Fein Councillor Padraig MacLoughlainn, who was in Dublin for the hearing, said that ruling will prove expensive.
"Already we know that already 1.3 m of tax payers money was wasted on expensive consultants for other marinas in the area and now the government will now have to pay 1.5 m euro in compensation, which is half of the European funding that the company lost out on. It's never been heard that the government would block funding coming in from Europe to benefit the country and that's what the Irish government did.
"It's quite remarkable that once again we see a case where people have had to spend hundreds of thousands to get justice - that's what's happened here today and I'm delighted for them," he added."
The full judgment in the case is to be issued at a later date and outstanding issues such as damages and costs have yet to be determined by the court.
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