A WOMAN has told a court that gardaí had to seize a gun from her neighbour after he had threatened he would use it to sort out a long- running neighbours’ dispute over a right of way.
At the High Court sitting in Ennis yesterday, Irene Crowe said that in 2004, her neighbour, Noel Broggy, “was going to use his gun to sort out this problem for once and for all”.
Ms Crowe, Knockroe, Meelick, a nurse, said: “Gardaí from Mayorstone Garda station went to Noel Broggy’s home and he admitted that he made the threat and they took his gun from him and to this day, he is not allowed to hold a gun.”
The court heard yesterday that the dispute between Ms Crowe and her husband Michael and the Broggys went back 33 years to 1979, when the Crowes bought a 1½ acre plot for a family home beside the Broggys in the Meelick area in southeast Co Clare.
In the case, Mr Broggy, Derrymore, Meelick, is appealing a 2004 Circuit Court ruling that no right of way existed at the site, restraining him from trespassing on Michael Crowe’s land.
Joe Revington SC, for the Broggys, said: “The Broggys have used this ancient right of way for generations and Broggys have lived there since the 1600s.”
Mr Revington said he would produce to court 11 witnesses to say the Broggys used the right of way.
After being given an outline of the case by Pat Whyms, for the Crowes, Mr Justice Michael Hanna said: “This all began shortly after I was called to the Bar and here I am a High Court judge, contemplating retirement. People are still fighting over a strip of land.”
In her evidence, Ms Crowe of Knockroe, Meelick, said Mr Broggy initially objected to the Crowes building a home in 1979, claiming he had a right of way on a private road on the lands.
Cross-examining Ms Crowe on the allegations she made against Mr Broggy, Mr Revington said: “These are terrible easy allegations to make.” In response, Ms Crowe said: “They are true.”
Mr Revington said: “Because of the nature of the allegations, they are extremely difficult to disprove.” Mr Justice Hanna said: “That is up to me to decide upon.”
The case continues today.
