Couple moved into council house with permission, court told

A local authority has started High Court proceedings against a couple which it claims has moved into a vacant council house without permission.

Longford County Council wants court orders requiring the couple to hand over possession of the property and restraining them entering or re-entering it without lawful authority.

At the High Court on Tuesday, Mr Justice Paul Gilligan was told John Paul and Frances Doyle moved into the house at Casey Court, Kenagh, Co Longford some days ago.

Mr Justice Gilligan granted the lawyers for the council permission to serve short notice of the injunction proceedings on the Doyles.

The application was made ex-parte, where only one side was present in court, and the judge adjourned the matter for a week.

The couple are on the local authority’s housing list.

Seeking the order, Paul Gunning BL, for the council, said there was some urgency to the matter because the council has offered the property to another family on the housing list.

The property had been vacant for a time before the Doyles moved in and, since they entered it, the locks had been changed, counsel said.

The council was now seeking vacant possession of the property which it contended the defendants had no entitlement to be in.