Bohemian Football Club has lost a High Court case relating to the sale and redevelopment of part of it lands at Dalymount Stadium in Phibsboro in Dublin.
Mr Justice John Edwards ruled that Bohemians hold a section of the stadium in trust for the owners of the adjoining Phibsboro Shopping Centre with whom the football club had been in negotiations for redevelopment works over a number of years.
The decision will have implications for an agreement which Bohemians has with another developer, Danninger Ltd, about the proposed sell-off of the stadium and its re-location to a site in Castleknock.
The judge said he will hear submissions on a later date from counsel for both sides on how the land in question is to be transferred and any other matters arising from his decision.
The case centred on whether there was ever an agreement between Bohemian's and developer Paschal Conroy's companies, Albion Properties Ltd and Albion Enterpries Ltd, over the potential sale of a section of Dalymount which adjoins the Phibsboro Shopping Centre and which Albion wanted to redevelop at a cost of €200m.
Bohemians claimed, in their proceedings, that any agreement to sell off part of their lands never moved beyond pre-contractual negotiations and there was no concluded agreement. In its counter-claim, Albion said the agreement was concluded in February 2003 and a number of variations of that agreement were also concluded.
During the course of these negotiations, the court heard, Albion made payments totalling €1.05m to Bohemians at times when the club was in financial difficulties.
The judge said he had come to the view that Albion are entitled to an interest in the land involved because there was ‘clear evidence of repeated promises, representations and inducements’ held out that if Bohs were paid money on account by Albion, it (Albion) would get the land.
