The Supreme Court has refused John Callaghan leave to appeal a Court of Appeal decision on his request to stop An Bord Pleanála deciding a planning application for a proposed wind farm in County Meath. The determination was delivered on 22 December 2015.
Finlay Geoghegan J, sitting alone, delivered the Court of Appeal ruling ex tempore on 9 December. Mr Callaghan, who lives about 4.5km from the proposed site at Emlagh, had sought a stay on proceedings before the Board, which the court treated in substance as an injunction.
His request was tied to a point of law certified by Costello J. in the High Court on 24 July 2015. It asks whether the planning scheme for strategic infrastructure must be read to give the public a right to be heard before the Board forms an opinion. On 15 December 2015 the Supreme Court refused him leave to take that point directly to it, leaving it for the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal refused the stay on the balance of convenience. It noted that the Board and the notice parties had agreed not to argue that a later Board decision would make the appeal moot.
The Supreme Court held that Mr Callaghan had not met the constitutional tests for a second appeal. It said the Court of Appeal applied standard tests, nothing in its reasoning had wider impact beyond this case, and no injustice had been shown that would justify an appeal.