An elderly mother is facing a legal bill estimated at about €100,000 following the High Court's rejection of her claim that her youngest son had exerted undue influence on her to sign a lease for a restaurant development at the rear of her home at Dublin's Fitzwilliam Square.
The Diep Le Shaker Thai restaurant now operates from the former mews premises at Pembroke Lane.
In dealing yesterday with the costs of the seven-day High Court hearing of the dispute between Renee ffrench O'Carroll and her son Arthur, Mr Justice Thomas Smyth awarded 50 per cent of the hearing costs to Arthur against his 83-year-old mother.
He made no order for the costs of Circuit Court proceedings involving the same parties and no order relating to earlier "skirmishes" in the High Court relating to the case. The stenography costs must also be paid by Ms ffrench O'Carroll, he directed.
Last month, the judge rejected claims by Ms ffrench O'Carroll that Arthur, with an address at Wellington Place, Clyde Lane, Ballsbridge, had exerted undue influence on her to sign a lease in 1995 for development of the mews premises.
He described Ms ffrench O'Carroll, a separated mother of five who came here from France in 1940, as "a highly intelligent and astute businesswoman" who fully understood the effect of the 1995 lease she had signed in favour of Arthur relating to development of the mews.
When Ms ffrench O'Carroll signed the disputed lease documents in 1995 she was satisfied the lease was intended to be in satisfaction of Arthur's one-fifth share of her estate and was to be his "inheritance", he found.
Given those findings, he granted the appeal by Arthur against an order of the Circuit Court of September 2005 in favour of Ms ffrench O'Carroll.
The Circuit Court had held that the execution of the lease of 1995 was procured by undue influence and that the lease is null and void. The court heard Arthur became a partner with a businessman, Matthew Farrell, in Killardport Ltd, which is beneficially owned by companies in Gibraltar. Killardport operates the Diep Le Shaker restaurant on the site of the mews property at 5a and 5b Pembroke Lane.
Mr Justice Smyth also rejected claims that the assignment of the lease to Killardport was done unlawfully.
The case came back before the judge yesterday to deal with final orders and costs. George Brady SC, for Arthur, applied for his costs and noted Ms ffrench O'Carroll had sought and secured her costs of the original Circuit Court hearing.
Brian Dempsey SC, for Ms ffrench O'Carroll, said his client had had the good grace to accept the "harsh" judgment in relation to her approach to the matter. She would not comment on what had been said about her nature and disposition.
Noting the judge had referred to Henry IV in his judgment, counsel urged that peace between the sides should not be in the nature of a conquest. The conquering party should be allowed to show that his affections for his mother were, as the judge had found, not contrived. It would be a very fair exercise of judicial discretion not to allow the costs order become a weapon for further bitter dispute, Mr Dempsey said.
After hearing both sides, the judge made his decision on costs and adjourned the issue of whether to grant another declaration in the case, relating to a sub lease, to a later date.