More than 30 Irish guests at a wedding on a Mediterranean island can sue two holiday firms alleged to have spoiled their week-long trip, a judge said yesterday.
Patrick Daly, Collins Drive, Finglas East, was one of 32 guests block-booked by bride-to-be Edel Goucher for her wedding in Cyprus in July 2005.
Martin Dully, counsel for Mr Daly, told the Circuit Civil Court that things went wrong for the guests as soon as they arrived at Dublin airport on their way to the wedding in Larnaca, Cyprus.
He said the party of guests, who were supposed to travel together, was split up and, following delays at Dublin, eventually flew out on different flights. He said Mr Daly claimed to have suffered inconvenience and stress as a result of the plans allegedly going awry both in Dublin and in Cyprus.
Mr Dully said Mr Daly had sued Fáilte Travel Ltd, trading as Gerry McMahon Travel, Bracken Road, Sandyford, Dublin, and John Cassidy Travel Ltd, Lower Liffey Street, Dublin, for damages for negligence. He had taken his case to the District Court where the judge had ruled the holiday contract was covered by an arbitration clause and refused to hear Mr Daly's complaints.
Mr Dully said Ms Goucher, now Mrs Edel Coleman, had booked her own and her husband-to-be's two-week holiday in Cyprus at a beach hotel in Larnaca. She had informed John Cassidy Travel of an "unascertained group" of guests who would be travelling to the wedding, but only for a week-long break in Cyprus.
Mr Dully said the defendants had claimed that Ms Goucher had acted as agent for all of the travelling group, and because of this all of them were bound by the arbitration clause. As a result they were unable to bring their claims to court.
He told Judge Jacqueline Linnane that in order for the clause to apply, John Cassidy Travel would have had to inform each guest that they were tied in to the arbitration clause. This had not happened.
Judge Linnane said the authorisation form Ms Goucher had signed bound only herself and her husband-to-be regarding a two-week stay at the hotel, inclusive of bed and breakfast. She did not see how her signature on this form could bind all of the other guests, who had travelled for only a one-week stay.
Judge Linnane said the travel agent should have asked all of the guests to attend at its office to sign booking forms once their identities had been disclosed to them. Their travel and hotel arrangements were different from Ms Goucher's.
She allowed the appeal against the District Court judge's decision binding all of the holidaymakers to an arbitration clause.