The Minister of State for Public Transport has recalled how an elderly neighbour installed a camera directly facing his home at a time when it was publicly known he was receiving death threats.
Alan Kelly was giving evidence yesterday in a civil action being taken against him and his father Thomas Kelly by a 72-year-old woman who lives beside him outside the north Tipperary village of Portroe on land overlooking Lough Derg.
The case before Nenagh Circuit Court concerns access to a laneway beside Mr Kelly's home and lands owned by his father Thomas (74) and the plaintiff Diane Whitehead.
Ms Whitehead, who is originally from London, moved to Tipperary in the late 1980s, after purchasing a four bedroomed modern bungalow and land overlooking Lough Derg.
Barriers
She claims access to a laneway, which she understands to be "commonage" and which she uses to access one of her fields, was blocked by barriers in 2010, at about the time Mr Kelly began renovating his home.
The Kellys insist that the laneway is theirs and has been in the family since 1935 and was always known as “Kelly’s lane”.
The court heard yesterday there were inconsistencies in maps concerning ownership of the disputed laneway.
Mr Kelly snr broke down while giving evidence, insisting that he has always had good neighbours and “is not in the habit of falling out with anybody”.
Proceedings were adjourned briefly when he became distressed.
Mr Kelly admitted he had put a barrier up on the laneway in 2010 because the situation was “getting out of hand”. He claimed there were horses being taken down the lane “early in the morning and late at night”, beside the home of his son Alan and his wife and two young children.
The 74-year-old insisted he had no problem with Ms Whitehead using the field to graze horses but said she had no right to access the field using the laneway.
In her evidence Ms Whitehead said she had written several letters to her solicitor to record what she “regarded as harassment and intimidation” over her use of the lane.
Alan Kelly’s wife Regina also broke down when called to give evidence yesterday and said: “I absolutely hate it. It’s a terrible situation to be in”.
Ms Whitehead admitted she had installed a camera pointing at Alan Kelly’s house some years ago but insisted it was because of “nocturnal car creepers” coming and going at 3am and not because she was spying on Alan Kelly. She took it down a month later after a request from the Garda.
Final legal submissions in the case will be heard this morning.