{"id":490404,"date":"2026-05-18T10:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/490404\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T10:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:03:14","slug":"solicitor-gets-fresh-appeal-over-order-to-leave-his-rented-temple-bar-apartment-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/490404\/","title":{"rendered":"Solicitor gets fresh appeal over order to leave his rented Temple Bar apartment \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">A solicitor must pay his landlord \u20ac10,000 of \u20ac20,706 rent arrears within a week as a condition to secure a rehearing of his appeal over an attempt to evict him from a rented <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/temple-bar\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/temple-bar\/\">Temple Bar<\/a> apartment. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Geoffrey Curran gave a sworn undertaking before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/district-court\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/district-court\/\">Dublin District Court<\/a> to pay the \u20ac10,000 owed in relation to the three-bed property, at Blind Quay Apartments, Exchange Street Lower, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/dublin\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/dublin\/\">Dublin<\/a> 8, within seven days. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">He also undertook to make monthly payments of \u20ac4,350 to the landlord, comprising \u20ac3,350 rent and \u20ac1,000 towards arrears, until they are cleared.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Judge Monika Leech required the undertakings as a condition of granting Curran\u2019s application, made by solicitor Susan Martin, for a rehearing of his appeal before a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/residential-tenancies-board\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/residential-tenancies-board\/\">Residential Tenancies Board<\/a> (RTB) tribunal. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The court heard Curran was \u201cseriously medically unwell\u201d at the time of the appeal on December 5th last, which proceeded in his absence. He had sought an adjournment some days earlier on medical and other grounds, including the existence of separate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/circuit-court\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/circuit-court\/\">Circuit Court<\/a> proceedings. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In sworn statements before the court on Friday, Curran said he believed he was granted an adjournment by the RTB and it was only when he received the tribunal\u2019s determination in February that he realised the hearing had proceeded. He alleged this was in breach of his rights. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The application for a rehearing was opposed by barrister Chris Oonan, instructed by Robert Coonan Solicitors, for Robert, David and John Paul Ranson, with addresses in Clontarf, Dublin. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">As representatives of their late father\u2019s estate, the Ransons claim, under an April 1998 lease with Temple Bar Properties Ltd, the deceased was leased the apartment at Blind Quay for 500 years. Under a residential sublease, the apartment was sublet in 2020 to Curran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">On Friday, their lawyers sought enforcement of the tribunal\u2019s decision rejecting Curran\u2019s appeal and requiring him to vacate the apartment and pay rent arrears. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The tribunal upheld a determination by a RTB adjudicator, who last July who deemed a notice of termination issued early last year was valid. The notice was served over Curran\u2019s alleged breach of contract, the erection of an unauthorised structure, a steel shed, on a balcony. The shed is still there and Curran had not paid rent since late November, the court heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In her ruling, the judge said she had to decide whether there were \u201cgood and substantial reasons\u201d, as required under section 125 of the Residential Tenancies Act, for Curran not attending December\u2019s appeal hearing. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">While Curran had said he understood the appeal would be adjourned, it did not seem, from exhibited emails, that the tribunal \u201chad any intention\u201d of adjourning, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Curran is a qualified solicitor \u201cwho knows the standards by which he is obliged to operate\u201d, the judge said. His evidence lacked credibility, his attitude \u201cleft a lot to be desired\u201d and he \u201chad his head in the sand\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">She added that it seemed Curran\u2019s employer had referred him in December for a medical assessment. He was not legally represented in December and if he had had expert legal advice then, \u201cmight not be in this position now\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">After receiving the tribunal\u2019s determination, he got legal advice and it seemed he was \u201cwell advised\u201d, the judge said. His solicitor advanced medical issues as being good and substantial reasons for an adjournment of December\u2019s hearing. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">While \u201cnot impressed\u201d with Curran\u2019s affidavits, the judge said she was \u201cmost concerned\u201d about the contents of a medical report obtained on December 4th last, the contents of which she would not set out as they related to personal matters. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">On foot of the medical issues, the judge granted a rehearing of the appeal on the condition that Curran undertook to make specified payments to the landlord, personal representatives of an estate who were awaiting a decision for some time and were at \u201ca lot of financial loss\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The separate Circuit Court proceedings, due back before that court next month, involve claims Curran operated the apartment as an Airbnb in breach of his lease. He said he had not at any time operated a business from the property and had \u201cfrom time to time taken paying licensees or guests\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">After he reported issues to Dublin City Council under the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, it found regulations had been contravened. A report directed structural repairs and that mould and water damage in areas of the apartment be addressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A solicitor must pay his landlord \u20ac10,000 of \u20ac20,706 rent arrears within a week as a condition to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,19715,52,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,41275,26479,7,8],"class_list":["post-490404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-district-court","tag-dublin","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-residential-tenancies-board-prtb","tag-temple-bar","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116595012842264228","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}