A businesswoman has secured High Court orders requiring a couple to vacate her Co Cavan property that she purchased from a receiver last year.
Sylvia Fox bought two houses in March 2024 in an unfinished housing estate after the developer, who was also the landlord, went bust.
She has claimed in the High Court that she has been threatened by Martin Reilly, one of the defendants, who she said refused to yield vacant possession of the property to her. Ms Fox claimed Mr Reilly told her in a threatening manner not to “trespass” on her own property again after the sale went through.
On Friday, Ms Fox, from Bennettsbridge, Co Kilkenny, secured the injunction preventing Mr Reilly and Donna Heslin from continuing to occupy the house at Lock Eala, Loch Gowna, Co Cavan.
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The court heard the couple claimed they had a lease agreement with the previous landlord that saw them pay the landlord €20,000 as a purchase option and €100 a year in rent since 2016.
Ms Fox’s counsel, Ruairí Giblin, said his client’s purchase was of an “investment” nature and pointed out that the couple owned a Longford property, meaning they would not be homeless if ordered to vacate.
In his oral judgment finding for Ms Fox on Friday, Mr Justice Oisín Quinn said the motion before him was for orders preventing the couple from entering or being upon the property, from changing any locks and from being a “nuisance” to Ms Fox or her agents.
Mr Justice Quinn said a deed of transfer to Ms Fox had been exhibited in the case, showing Ms Fox had paid €130,000 for the house and had a receipt of acknowledgment.
The judge was satisfied Ms Fox had established a “very strong case” and that she was the lawful owner of the property.
The judge said the lease agreement the defendants claimed gave them permission to be on the property did not “bind or affect” the transfer of the mortgage from Everyday to Ms Fox.
Mr Justice Quinn granted barrister Ronnie Hudson, for the defendants, a two-month pause on the vacation order, and postponed the awarding of costs to the plaintiff until the outcome of his client’s appeal of the decision.
In court documents, Ms Fox said she and her husband went to view the properties following her purchase last March.
Subsequently, a photograph of her husband appeared on a Facebook page that she said is run by someone who spreads online conspiracy theories and disinformation about the Government, the courts and the banks.
The photograph contained the caption: “Anyone know these two goons sneaking around properties. If you see them, call the gardaí. Spread it around ...”
Ms Fox submitted this was an effort to intimidate her husband or herself or to frustrate her purchase of the properties.
In October, Ms Fox said, while she was working at the other house she had bought, she was approached by Mr Reilly, who repeatedly shouted at her in a threatening manner not to “trespass” on the property. He also said he was “warning me for the final time”, she claimed.
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