Re McGrath (Appl of)

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: O'Hanlon J.,
• Judgment Date: 04 August 1987
• Neutral Citation: 1987 WJSC-HC 1912
• Docket Number: No. D 5923
• Court: High Court
• Date: 04 August 1987

In re MCGRATH (APPL OF)

On appeal from/

DUBLIN CIRCUIT

COUNTY OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN

IN THE MATTER OF THE COURTS (SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS) ACT 1961

IN THE MATTER OF THE LICENSING ACTS, 1833 TO 1986

AND

IN THE MATTER OF THE INTOXICATING LIQUOR ACT, 19601960 SECTIONS 14 AND 15

AND

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF BRENDAN McGRATH

1987 WJSC-HC 1912

No. D 5923

THE HIGH COURT

THE CIRCUIT COURT

Synopsis:

LICENSING ACTS

Licence

Application - New premises - Old licensed premises - Demolition - Extinguishment of licence - Application pursuant to ss.14 and 15 of the Act of 1960 for a declaration that the premises at No. 33 O'Connell Street in the City of Dublin, when reconstructed after damage by fire, would be fit and convenient to be licensed for the sale and consumption of intoxicating liquor - The applicant invoked s.14 of the Act and offered the extinguishment of either of two licences formerly attached to demolished premises distanced respectively 421 yards and 645 yards from No. 33 O'Connell Street - The applicant intended to reconstruct the O'Connell Street premises so as to provide luxurious modern facilities for the intended business - Held, in granting the application, that the O'Connell Street premises were in the "immediate vicinity" of the demolished premises 421 yards away, within the meaning of s.14, sub-s.1(c)(ii), of the Act of 1960 - Held that the operation of a licensed business at the renovated premises would be unlikely to have "a materially adverse effect" on the licensed businesses conducted by the objectors in the neighbourhood since, apart from two of them, the licensed trade at the renovated premises would be of a different standard and since, with regard to the remaining businesses, there was plenty of scope for all three businesses - Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1960, ss.14, 15 - (Ct. App. - O'Hanlon J. - 4/8/87)

|Application of McGrath|

WORDS AND PHRASES

"Adverse effect"

Intoxicating liquor - Licence - Application - New premises - Old licensed premises - Demolition - Extinguishment of licence - Held that the operation of a licensed business at proposed renovated premises would be unlikely to have a materially adverse effect on the licensed business conducted by the objectors - ~See~ Licensing Acts, licence - (Ct. App. - O'Hanlon J. - 4/8/87)

|Application of McGrath|

WORDS AND PHRASES

"Immediate vicinity"

Intoxicating liquor - Licence - Application - New premises - Old licensed premises - Demolition - Premises proposed to be licensed held to be in the immediate vicinity of demolished premises 421 yards away - ~See~ Licensing Acts, licence - (Ct. App. - O'Hanlon J. - 4/8/87)

|Application of McGrath|

Citations:

INTOXICATING LIQUOR ACT 1960 S14

INTOXICATING LIQUOR ACT 1960 S15

LEO WARD 101 ILTR 161

JAMES WALLS 103 ILTR 113

IRISH CINEMAS LTD, APPLICATION OF 106 ILTR 17

LICENSING (IRL) ACT 1902 S6

1 Judgment of O'Hanlon J., delivered the 4th day of August, 1987.

2 This appeal relates to an application made to the Circuit Court on the 7th May, 1987, by the Applicant, Brendan McGrath, pursuant to the provisions of Sections 14 and 15 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1960, in respect of premises situate at 33 Upper O'Connell Street, in the City of Dublin. The Applicant proposed to reconstruct the said premises, which had been substantially damaged by fire, and to secure the extinction of a seven-day on-licence held in respect of licensed premises in the immediate vicinity of the new premises, in compliance with the requirements of Sec. 14 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1960, such other premise having been demolished or to be demolished not more than two years before the date of the application to the Circuit Court. He took the unusual course of offering for consideration by the Court two alternative premises for demolition and extinction of the licence attached to such premises - one of them being the Hamlet Lounge formerly situate at the corner of Summerhill and Middle Gardiner Street, and the other being the Elbow Inn, 32 Mary Street, Dublin 1. The application was refused by the learned Circuit Court Judge, and from this decision an appeal has been taken by the Applicant to the High Court.

3 The application was contested in the Circuit Court, and again in the High Court, by a substantial number of publican-objectors, in reliance upon two grounds which are referred to in Sec. 14 of the Act of 1960. They claimed, in the first place, that the application should fail on the ground that neither of the two licensed premises marked for demolition should be regarded as being within the immediate vicinity of the site of the premises at No. 33 Upper O'Connell Street. Secondly, they claimed that the Applicant had failed to show to the satisfaction of the Court that the location of the new premises at 33 Upper O'Connell Street rather than on the site of either of the original premises was unlikely of itself to have a materially adverse effect on the business carried on by the objectors, or some one or more of them, in licensed premises in the neighbourhood.

4 The objecting publicans were all located in Parnell Street, just around the corner from No. 33 Upper O'Connell Street, and a good deal closer to that premises than to the Hamlet Lounge or the Elbow Inn. The distance of the Hamlet Lounge from 33 Upper O'Connell Street was given as approximately 421 yards, and the Elbow Inn from 33 Upper O'Connell Street as approximately 645 yards (ordinary walking distance in each case). The objectors included the licensees of the Shakespeare (76 yards from 33 Upper O'Connell Street), the Parnell Mooney (82 yards), the Metro (109 yards). Judge's (142 yards), and the Welcome Inn (153 yards).

5 I have no doubt that the new premises, if licensed, would be much more suitable than either of the original premises for the business of selling intoxicating liquor, as the Applicant wishes to provide a luxurious, up-market-type premises suitable for the city's...