A judge will give her ruling tomorrow in a dispute between Minister of State Alan Kelly, his father Thomas, and a neighbour Diane Whitehead, over access to a laneway beside the Kellys home near Portroe, in Co Tipperary.
Ms Whitehead initiated civil proceedings against Mr Kelly and his son Alan Kelly after access to a laneway she claims she had been using for 20 years had been blocked.
The Kellys dispute the claim saying they own the laneway, which has always been known as "Kellys Lane".
Ms Whitehead said she wanted unfettered access to a field she owns through this laneway, where horses had been allowed to graze for many years.
She is also claiming part ownership of the laneway as it is townland commonage according to maps she presented to court.
Thomas Kelly admitted he put up the barrier in 2010 because the situation involving horse movements in the laneway was getting out of hand, beside the home of his son Alan, his wife and two young children.
Closing submissions were heard in the case today after two days of evidence.
Counsel for the Kellys claim Ms Whitehead had provided no historical basis for this right of way, that her use of the laneway was not consistent, and that there were significant interruptions to her use over the 20 years she claims to have used it.
Counsel Ms Emer Costigan said one can only seek a right of access against a person who owns property, so the civil proceedings themselves confirm the Kellys ownership.
She also said Ms Whitehead had access to her land by means of another entrance known as the High Road, which was used by the former owners of the land.
"Inconvenience is not sufficient entitlement, in circumstances where the plaintiff already has access," she said.
Counsel for Ms Whitehead said the laneway was being used for many years to allow horses access to land adjacent to it and that access through the already mentioned High Road was more difficult.
He said the plaintiff only started proceedings when a barrier was erected to prevent her having access to a laneway that she had access to for 20 years, and which her folio of maps indicated she is half owner of.
Judge Petria McDonnell, who visited the disputed laneway during the course of the case, will give her ruling at Nenagh Circuit Civil Court tomorrow.
