Court Of Appeal Confirms Point Ireland Helicopters Jurisprudence

• Published date: 23 December 2022
• Law Firm: William Fry
• Author: Ms Laura Murdock, Mollie Lenihan-McGrane and Sonja Heppner

Abbey International Finance Limited v Point Ireland Helicopters Limited[2012] 2 I.R. 694 (Point Ireland Helicopters) established that the High Court has an inherent jurisdiction to grant summary judgment in plenary proceedings, where it was satisfied that the defendant had failed to identify an arguable defence, and it was clear that the defendant had no defence. The Court of Appeal, in its recent judgment in Inland Fisheries Ireland v Ó Baoill & ors [2022] IECA 266 (Inland Fisheries Ireland), confirmed the Point Ireland Helicopters jurisprudence in this regard.

The proceedings in Inland Fisheries Ireland concerned fishing rights on the Geebarra River in Donegal. The High Court, in 2019, had granted relief to the plaintiff-respondent on foot of an application for summary judgment. The defendants-appellants appealed to the Court of Appeal (COA).

The COA noted that the conclusions reached in Point Ireland Helicopters were based on the court's inherent jurisdiction and the specific court rules applicable to cases in the Commercial List of the High Court. However, the COA was satisfied that the High Court's inherent jurisdiction applied equally to cases outside the Commercial Court. Giving judgment...