Aquatic centre eviction decision to be appealed

The saga rolls on, after their recent defeat in the High Court…

The operators of the National Aquatic Centre, Dublin Water World Ltd (DWL), plan to appeal a High Court decision to evict them from the troubled swimming arena.

Their removal from the centre is due on Friday April 28 and they will also be seeking a stay on this.

The legal saga over the ill-fated arena has already cost DWL and the landlords of the centre Campus Stadium Ireland Development Ltd (CSID) at least €1.5m in legal costs.

This is fifteen times the €100,000 annual rent the operators failed to pay CSID – one of the main reasons a move was made to evict.

Outlining the grounds for the appeal, a DWL spokesman said: “CSID admitted as late as July 2005 that the building snagging and defects completion process [as required in the contract] remains incomplete.” DWL as a result, he claimed, had lost money and this was compounded by the unexpected five-month closure of the centre from January 2005 after part of its roof blew off.

A key element of DWL’s Supreme Court appeal was a clause in the lease requiring payment of IR£500,000 to CSID over five years. “DWL,” he said refuse to pay this, after “uncovering a multitude of defects”.