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A man agreed in High Court to vacate a piece of land next to Dublin Airport that is required to facilitate the construction of the new north runway.
Richard Joyce claimed that he and his father had enjoyed adverse possession, or squatter rights, over the land that was next to what the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) said was once designated as a detention site. of licensed travelers.
Joyce claimed that he and his family had been living at the property in Collinstown Park, Forrest Road, Swords, Co Dublin, for 16 years.
He had objected to a DAA request for him to remove him and also filed a counterclaim saying he was entitled to adverse possession.
On Tuesday, Judge Leonie Reynolds was told that there had been an agreement between the parties and that the case would not concern the court.
An agreed order was delivered to the court in which Joyce recognized that she had no right to any beneficial interest in the land, will evict her before January 31 next and will take all her belongings. The case was struck out along with his counterclaim.
The judge asked Mr. Joyce, who was in court, if he understood that if he or any of his servants or agents entered the land after January 31, they would be trespassers.
Said yes.
In its complaint, the DAA said that the Minister of Transport and Tourism had issued a license in 1988 to allow the local authority to build a commuter stop in Collinstown. The Minister was the highest authority over the airport lands at that time because the DAA (formerly Aer Rianta) was a semi-state body,
That license was to last until 2007, after which it was extended from year to year.
At some point, the DAA says, certain people entered the land and extended the detention site to land that was not licensed.
In 2017, the Fingal County Council wrote to members of the McAleer family, who were on the extended land without a license, requesting that they leave the land. The DAA says it was never informed that Mr. Joyce resided on the extended lands.
Following legal action, the McAleers abandoned the site. The DAA said it was only in October 2019 that Joyce said she had been living on the same land as the McAleers for 15 years. He said he was willing to consider any suitable offers of alternative accommodation and compensation, the DAA said.
The DAA filed a lawsuit against him seeking possession saying that he had not offered evidence of continued occupation of the land.
Joyce responded by saying that it had been in adverse possession because he and his father, who said he had been there since 2004, had cleared and leveled the site to make it suitable for a caravan. He said they placed concrete, gravel and pavement on the land, also used for the storage of a large number of items, including vehicles, that had fenced off the property and put padlocks on it.
He requested a declaration that he was entitled to adverse possession by virtue of a continuous occupation of more than 12 years.
Judge Reynolds congratulated the parties on reaching an agreement.
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