The Supreme Court has ordered Dublin Corporation to repair broken lifts in the Ballymun flats complex.
On consent of both tenants and the local authority, the court directed yesterday that the corporation take all reasonable steps within its power and authority to explore every means of repairing and maintaining the lifts.
Mr Justice O'Flaherty, who sat with Mr Justice Murphy and Mr Justice Barron, held the tenants were entitled to enjoy the use of the lifts in accordance with their rights under the law and their tenancy agreements.
The court also restrained anyone from acting in any way calculated to frustrate the operation of the court order.
It means that should Dublin Corporation decide to employ an outside third party to carry out the work, striking lift-maintenance employees would be unable to picket the work.
Some Ballymun tenants had claimed that because of the lack of lifts service in the towers they were prisoners in their homes.
The corporation had maintained a contract with Pickerings Lifts Ltd for the repair of all lifts in Ballymun but, because of the strike, Pickerings workers had ceased to carry out all but emergency repairs.