A dispute over the sale of Christmas trees from a site in Dalkey, Co Dublin, will come before the High Court today .
Patrick McCoy, Dundela Park, Sandycove, last week secured an interim injunction restraining Noel Ó Murchú from selling Christmas trees from a site on the corner of Hyde Road and Ulverton Road in Dalkey.
Mr McCoy claimed Mr Ó Murchú forced his way on to the site and Mr Justice Frank Clarke granted an interim injunction last Friday restraining trespass.
When the matter came before Mr Justice Kevin Feeney yesterday, Declan Wade, for Mr McCoy, said Mr Ó Murchú had continued to trade despite the order.
He said his client was seeking that the order be continued but was conscious that Mr Ó Murchú was representing himself and was prepared to give him time to swear affidavits.
Mr Ó Murchú claims he has sold Christmas trees on the site every year from December 1995 on foot of a tenancy agreement.
He said he was unaware until yesterday of the making of the order and, when he saw a copy of it yesterday, he had instructed a helper to close the site.
Mr Ó Murchú contended the injunction was improperly obtained on an ex parte basis - one side only was represented - and that what should have been sought was a mandatory order.
He said he would be seeking to subpoena witnesses, including one garda.
Mr Justice Feeney said that, on the face of it, the court order seemed to have been properly made and the matter would be dealt with on affidavit. He said he would give Mr Ó Murchú an opportunity to put his case on affidavit and would deal with the matter today.
The judge said he would continue the injunction restraining trespass, pending today's hearing.
It was clear Mr Ó Murchú was now aware of the order and any breach of it would be a significant contempt, he said.
The judge added that he was aware Mr Ó Murchú was selling Christmas trees and the nature of that business meant the trees had to be sold before Christmas.
In that context, he noted Mr McCoy had given an undertaking to pay damages to Mr Ó Murchú if it turned out that the injunction should not have been granted.