Lynch v Dolan

JurisdictionIreland
Judgment Date31 July 2001
Docket Number[RECORD NO: 33/99]
Date31 July 2001
CourtCircuit Court

THE CIRCUIT COURT

[RECORD NO: 33/99]

BETWEEN/
DESMOND LYNCH,SEAMUS QUALTER AND ANDREW O’SULLIVAN [Being the Chairman,Secretary and Treasurer Of Cumann Luthchleas Gael Atha Luain]
Plaintiffs
AND
DES DOLAN,PADRAIG MCGOWAN,JOHN CASEY AND PETER MCCORMACK
Defendants
Abstract:

Equity and trusts - Fundraising - Ownership of funds - Sporting bodies - Control of monies raised - Whether sub-committee entitled to control funds - Whether funds should be paid over to executive committee - Whether sub-committee had been properly dissolved.

Facts: The plaintiffs were officers of a GAA club and sought the payment of monies held by the defendants into the central funds of the club. The defendants were the members of a sub-committee which had been established to raise funds for the purpose of sending club members on a tour of the United States. The defendants claimed that they were trustees of the monies raised and that the club intended to use the monies raised for purposes other than the original proposal. The plaintiffs claimed that the sub-committee in question had been dissolved and the defendants had wrongfully refused to hand over the funds raised as they were obliged to do so under the rules of the club constitution.

Held by Judge McMahon in making the following order. The fund in question was set up for the specific purpose of funding the planned upcoming tour. The executive committee had properly dissolved the sub-committee and all the property held by the sub-committee reverted to the club. The members of the sub-committee were managing funds on behalf of the club and were not trustees of the funds collected. Due to the lapse of time the original objective of the fund was unattainable and a resulting trust arose in favour of the original donors. If and when the donors were identified they should be reimbursed.

1

Judgment of His Honour Judge Bryan McMahon delivered on 31st July, 2001 at [insert town where judgment delivered].

2

These proceedings were commenced by way of Civil Bill dated 25th January, 1999 wherein the plaintiffs, the chairman, the secretary and the treasurer of Cumann Luthchleas Gael Atha Luain (hereinafter “the club”), claimed that a properly constituted sub-committee of the club (hereinafter “the Tour Committee”) had ceased to exist and that money held by the sub-committee should now be handed over to the club.

3

The history behind the present proceedings makes sorry reading, stretching back as it does to 1984. Since that date some of the differences between the parties (or some of them) have been aired extensively at a five-day hearing before Blayney J, who delivered a detailed written judgment on the 7th April 1987 on the issues that confronted him on that occasion. An appeal to the Supreme Court was filed but the matter settled before the Supreme Court had an opportunity of hearing it. Not only have the differences between the parties given rise to “the Blayney Proceedings”, as well as these proceedings before me, which were heard over several days at different venues in the current term, but there are, I understand, related

4

proceedings also underway in other courts, all concerned with the disputed events and the unfortunate fallout generated therefrom, which, as I say, go back to 1984.

5

Briefly, the relevant background to these proceedings commenced in October 1984 when the club was enjoying considerable success in Westmeath’s County championship. To celebrate the G.A.A’s centenary year, in the dressing- room before the senior County Final, it was mooted that if the club won the cup, a celebratory trip to the USA would be organised. The prospect may have had the desired effect, as the senior team did in fact take the crown on that day.

6

In October 1984, a sub-committee (hereinafter “the Tour Committee”) was established, whose task was to raise funds. Various fund raising events were organised and in particular a regular club draw (hereinafter “the 500 Club Draw”) was set up. The profits from these fund-raising activities were lodged by the Tour Committee in a special account with the Ulster Bank under the name Cumann Luthchleas Tour Committee. More than £10,000 was collected within a period of time and when interest is added, the sum as of May 2001, comes to £15,608.97 approximately. These proceedings are essentially concerned with the right to control these funds.

7

In November 1984, Mr Andreas O’Sullivan was elected Chairman of the Club, and shortly thereafter he discovered that the money being raised by the Tour Committee was not in the control of the Executive Committee and he took steps to rectify and regularise the situation. In short, these moves caused the Tour Committee to become suspicious and distrustful of the Executive Committee’s intentions regarding the collected money and the Tour Committee concluded that the Executive Committee intended to use the money for the general purposes of the club and to service the general debts incurred by the club. The Tour Committee maintained that the funds collected by it, were collected specifically and exclusively to finance a US tour. The dispute escalated during the summer of 1985 and became very bitter. High Court proceedings were issued on behalf of the club’s Executive Committee who claimed,inter alia,that the Tour Committee was not a properly constituted sub-committee of the Club. The matter was heard over a five-day period and eventually Blaney J gave a long written judgment on the 7th April 1984. The learned judge found that the Tour Committee was indeed a sub-committee of the club, but for various reasons he did not think it appropriate that he should give a declaration to that effect. In refusing such a declaration, Blayney J said he did not do so because to make such an order, in circumstances where the Executive Committee could dissolve the sub-committee at any time under the rules, could not amount to “a binding declaration of right”, as is required by Order 19 rule 29

8

of the Rules of the Superior Courts. Secondly, Blayney J said that as the making of a declaratory order was discretionary, he did not think it would be proper to exercise his discretion in favour of the Tour Committee, since in his opinion the sub-committee did not conduct itself as such and “displayed a total distrust of the Executive Committee and a refusal to comply with directives”. He further added that the making of such a declaration might interfere, with, and unduly influence defamation proceedings also in existence between some of the parties to the action before him.

9

In the present case much evidence was led before me relating to the above background and at this remove there was no real disagreement as to the factual background to the present dispute. The same evidence that was laid before Blayney J in 1986 was also before me, and on many issues, led me to the same findings of fact as Blayney J found in his judgment. The parties in this case do not seriously disagree with the background facts as found by Blayney J, and rather than unnecessarily repeat these findings, I adopt pages 1 to 8 (line 2) of Blayney J’s judgment as properly expressing the background facts as I found them from the evidence presented to me at this hearing .The relevant extracts are as follows:

10

This action arises out of an unfortunate dispute within the Athlone GAA club, or to give it its full title Cumann Luthchleas Gael Atha Luain.. Throughout the judgment I shall refer to it as “the club”.

11

The defendants at the date the action was commenced on the 14th August 1985 were respectively the Chairman, Treasurer and Vice-chairman of the Executive Committee of the Club.

12

The plaintiffs are all members of the club. At the date of the institution of the proceedings, the second named plaintiff Padraig McGowan, was the secretary of the Executive Committee of the club, and the first and third named plaintiffs Des Dolan and John Casey were members of the Executive Committee. In addition, the four plaintiffs were the officers of a committee known as the American Tour Committee, being respectively the Secretary, chairman and treasurer of that committee.

13

Six different types of relief were claimed in the Statement of Claim but three of these had already been disposed of before the case came on for hearing, and a fourth I refused at the end of the plaintiffs case, so that only two remain now for consideration. These are, firstly, a claim for a declaration that the American Tour committee constitutes a lawfully appointed sub-committee to the Executive Committee in accordance with the constitution and Rules of the club and in accordance with the Official Guide of Cumann Luthchleas Gael, and secondly, a claim for a declaration that the notice of the 7th August 1985 given to each of the plaintiffs of a proposed meeting to be held at the clubhouse, “Arus Chiarain” on Wednesday 14th August 1985 at 9p.m to show

14

reason as to why each of the plaintiffs should not be expelled or suspended from the club is invalid on the grounds set out in the Statement of Claim.

15

The facts on which the first claim has to be considered, I find to be as follows.

16

On the 25th September 1984 a number of the players and members of the Executive Committee met to discuss the question of the tour to the United States. About 10 days previously the club had won the County Championship. On the day before the match the first named plaintiff, in order to encourage the team, had told them that if they won he would try to organise a tour to the United States, and at the victory dinner dance which followed their win, this was widely discussed. At the meeting on Saturday 5th September, it has agreed that the tour was a good idea and that a committee should be organised to carry it into effect.

17

A further meeting, the first of which minutes were kept, was held on 2nd October 1984.. At that meeting Fr. Tom Maguire,...

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