THE Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, had the power to make regulations to acquire compulsorily 17 of the 25 plots on the Great Blasket Island, the High Court ruled yesterday.
Mr Justice Kelly was ruling on a preliminary issue in the case. The owners of the 17 plots originally had challenged the validity of the legislation itself but will now take proceedings in the main issue challenging the constitutionality of the An Blascaod Mor National Historic Park Act 1989. It was put into the next list to fix dates.
Yesterday, the judge said that in the preliminary issue there were three questions to be answered. Did the Minister have the power under the 1989 Act to make the regulations to compulsorily acquire the plots? If the answer was yes, then did the regulations come within the Act and if the answer was again yes, were the notices valid? Mr Justice Kelly said he believed the Oireachtas clearly was minded to confer a power on the Minister to make the regulations. He concluded, therefore, that the Minister had the right to make the regulations to compulsorily acquire the plots.
On the question of whether the regulations came within the Act, the judge said in the first paragraphs of the schedule to the Act there was no power given to the Minister to make such regulations. However, the word "prescribed" in a later paragraph was defined as meaning being prescribed by regulations made by the Minister.
The objection to the notices was that there was an omission of words. It was entirely technical and of little substance. The objection should be disallowed.
He said all three of the questions had been answered in the affirmative and the plaintiffs could now proceed only with the constitutional case.
The challenge to the 1989 legislation was brought by Blascaod Mor Teo, with registered offices on the island, and the beneficial owners of the company, a Dingle solicitor, Mr Peter Callery; his brother, Mr James Callery, of Cloonahee House, Elphin, Co Roscommon; Ms Kay Brooks, the widow of a former US diplomat; and Mr Matthias Jauch, Mercier Park, Turner's Cross, Cork.
The defendants are the Commissioners for Public Works, the Minister, Ireland and the Attorney General.