A court clash between the widow of builder Joe Cosgrave and her late husband’s brothers, Michael and William, is set to go to a hearing following an unsuccessful attempt at mediation.
At a recent sitting of the Commercial Court Ms Justice Denis McDonald was told mediation talks held over the summer months had not resolved the dispute and that Denise Cosgrave was seeking a timetable for the preparation of the case.
Dates were then set for the filing of various legal documents in preparation for a hearing to begin on February 11th of next year. It is expected the hearing will last for three to four days.
Ms Cosgrave is alleging that her two brothers-in-law have been using her late husband’s death to take control of the well-known construction and development group.
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The defendants in the case, which are the two brothers and Cosgrave companies Genstar Unlimited and JOM Investments Limited Company, are contesting the claims, saying they have acted properly and in the best interests of the Cosgrave Group.
Ms Cosgrave is seeking to be registered as a one-third shareholder in Genstar and JOM in her capacity as personal representative of her late husband, who was a one-third shareholder in the companies.
She is also seeking a declaration that the brothers, who are the directors of the group, have acted arbitrarily and/or capriciously and/or perversely and/or irrationally in refusing to consider that her husband’s will, along with a High Court order, was sufficient evidence of her entitlement to be registered as a shareholder of Genstar and JOM.
Ms Cosgrave is the executor of the will left by her husband, who died in February 2022 at the age of 62. He is survived by Ms Cosgrave and their daughters, Kate and Laura.
Genstar and JOM were previously controlled on an equal basis by Joe, Michael and the late Peter Cosgrave, who died in 2019. Ms Cosgrave has alleged that the defendants, and specifically Michael, are using her late husband’s death to take control of the Cosgrave group.
The directors of the company, she claims, are making decisions that will have wide-ranging impacts on the group, including the sale of undeveloped residential and commercial land and the incurring of new debt.
She has also said she feels that she is being treated differently to her sister-in-law, Oonagh Cosgrave, widow of Peter, who, she said, had been registered as a shareholder.
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