Mayo cattle dealer Finbar Tolan’s appeal of a judgment made against him in May 2015 in the High Court has been dismissed.

The three judges deciding the outcome of the appeal – Ms Justice Mary Irvine, Mr Justice Michael Peart and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan – unanimously agreed to dismiss it on the basis that the document cited by Tolan as the basis for his appeal was not a legally binding document.

While presenting his judgment, Justice Peart said that this document was “incomplete” and “imprecise” and “lacked the completion necessary to be a legally binding document”.

€4.5m action

Tolan brought a €4.5m action against Aurivo co-op last year in which he claimed the co-op cost him his business by withdrawing credit from him and barring him from attending its marts in Ballinrobe and Balla, Co Mayo, as well as Ballymote, Co Sligo. Tolan claimed he had a formal contract with the co-op and that its actions in ending its dealings with him three years ago amounted to a breach of contract.

The basis of Tolan’s claims against Aurivo was a document dated 16 July 2012, and signed by the managers of the three marts as well as Martin Walsh, Aurivo’s general manager for marts.

This was the document referred to by Mr Justice Peart in his dismissal of Tolan’s appeal.

Tolan claimed that this document was legally binding but in his dismissal of the case in May last year, Justice Nicholas Kearns, then president of the High Court, found that the business relationship between Tolan and the co-op was not governed by any binding legal requirement. Moreover, costs were ordered to be paid in favour of Aurivo.

Following this, Tolan initiated his appeal, which was dismissed in its entirety this Thursday by the Court of Appeal.

Aurivo v. Tolan

The stakes in this appeal case were made much higher by a separate judgment that went to the Supreme Court in 2014, in which the High Court ordered Tolan to pay more than €150,000 owed to Aurivo as their relationship deteriorated. The execution of this judgment had been suspended until judgment on Tolan’s appeal was heard.

The issue of this separate case, plus the matter of costs relating to the dismissal of the appeal, and any further orders will be discussed at a further hearing on Friday 27 May, once both parties have had time to digest Thursday’s judgment.

Comment

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal after Thursday's judgment, Tolan said he does not feel the right decision was reached and he intends to appeal the decision.

"Myself and my legal team have been studying the judgment," he said. "And we believe I have good grounds to appeal the decision."

He added that his legal team is of the view that the document from July 2012 was indeed a legal document as it was signed by himself and the mart managers and furthermore he claims he complied with all the conditions on the document.

Tolan added that he is also taking legal advice on whether he should make his submissions on the case available to the public, as he wants "to tell the full story".

"I am taking legal advice on whether I should publish the submissions now or wait until the outcome of my next appeal," he told the Irish Farmers Journal.