The Supreme Court has refused Laurence Flynn leave to appeal directly from the High Court, in a determination delivered on 3 November 2015. Judge Sean Ó Donnabháin was the respondent, with Mater Private Hospital as a notice party.
Mr Flynn wanted to appeal a High Court decision of 8 June 2015. That decision refused him permission to seek judicial review of a Circuit Court order made by Judge Ó Donnabháin on 27 March 2015.
The order dismissed Mr Flynn's negligence action against the Mater Private Hospital, which he began in 2010. The court heard that earlier orders gave him 12 months to obtain medical evidence, and the case was re-entered before the Cork Circuit Court.
The High Court noted that Mr Flynn told the Circuit Court he could not produce a medical report. It refused leave because he had already appealed the Circuit Court order to the High Court and lost.
The Supreme Court said the refusal raised no matter of general public importance, and an appeal was not necessary in the interests of justice. It said a direct appeal must be exceptional, and a Court of Appeal judge having made earlier decisions in Mr Flynn's cases did not meet that test.