One OF five residents suing the former owners of Clonmannon retirement village in Co Wicklow, Jane and Roderick McGrath, has denied the five are acting in selfish disregard of the other residents.
In the High Court yesterday, Mr Liam Furlong said relations among the residents deteriorated after the McGraths took over in 1996. He said the village's community spirit was gone. There are 46 bungalows in the village but only 14 are at present occupied.
Mr Furlong, together with Ms Martha Honiball, Ms Ann Kelly, Ms Mary Illingworth and Ms Aileen Dempsey, claim the McGraths, who sold their interest in the village to Tara Court Properties last year, were not entitled to introduce variations to the original "care agreement" and had wrongly restricted residents to the ground floor.
Mr Furlong said that when a Mr John Corneill came to run the village in 1993, there was a gradual rundown of services even though service charges went up. The atmosphere became unpleasant. There was a winding up of the three companies which ran the complex, and for three years Clonmannon House was closed.
Mr Justice Kearns asked whether a claim that a tiny minority of residents constantly telling the media what was wrong with the village was one of the reasons for the deterioration of relations among the residents. Mr Furlong said they had no other way of giving vent to their feelings about the way the village was being run.
During her evidence, Ms Illingworth was asked by Mr Justice Kearns if she would accept the claim that the McGraths had had a huge task on their hands and had tried to put something in place of the old care contract there for three years before their arrival. Ms Illingworth said it was different from the original contract, which she wanted to retain.
Mr Justice Kearns said it appeared it had not been financially viable to continue the old contract, and the McGraths had sought the views of the residents. About half-a-dozen companies had gone to the wall during the existence of the old contract.
Ms Illingworth agreed the McGraths sent out a questionnaire to residents about a new care agreement. She had replied to that document but had wanted to meet the McGraths with her solicitor.
Ms Illingworth said she felt intimidated at the village. Mr Justice Kearns remarked that that was a serious allegation and she should choose her words carefully. She replied that she was not happy going out of her bungalow and felt insecure. The security she had originally was not there now.
Mr George Brady SC, for the McGraths, said Ms Illingworth had signed the questionnaire sent to all residents.
Mr Brady said Ms Illingworth had replied that she did not want a meal a day; did not want a nurse who would deal with minor medical complaints; and did not want a library, oratory, gamesroom or launderette, lounge, dining room, ladies' or gents' toilet, or an emergency service to her bungalow.
In giving such answers, was she not seeking major variations of the original care contract? counsel asked Ms Illingworth. She replied that she had hoped to meet the McGraths with her solicitor and that, in chatting with the McGraths, she would know better what she was going to get. The McGraths, she claimed, did not meet her.
Mr Brady said Ms Illingworth claimed security was an important factor to her, yet when asked in the McGrath questionnaire if she thought it should be provided in a new agreement she had put a tick in the "No" box.
Father Arthur O'Neill, a curate in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, said that in 1991 the village was seen as a rich people's club.
The hearing continues today.