A DISTRICT court judge has applied the Probation Act to Quills Retail Ltd after they complied with orders from Cork County Council to remove a green shed structure at the back of their premises in Glengarriff as well as the removal of casual traders from an adjacent car park, which had acted as a market for several years.

At Bandon District Court this week, Judge Joanne Carroll was finalising the case in a prosecution taken out by Cork County Council against Quills Retail Ltd which required the removal of food traders who were operating in a car park outside the premises.

The case had been adjourned from Bantry District Court last month in order that the enforcement notice by adhered to.

This followed an earlier court sitting in Bantry on March 20th last where Padraig Quill of Quills Retail Ltd and Cork County Council signed a 10-point agreement.

Part of this agreement was that Mr Quill agreed to inform food truck operators that he was terminating a verbal agreement which had allowed them to trade in the car park outside his business.

At this week’s court, barrister Stephen O’Donoghue (BL) representing Cork County Council pointed out that Quills Retail Ltd’s compliance was very late in the day and pointed out that the tyres of the green structure were only deflated at 4pm on Sunday October 19th.

‘The green shed structure was attached to a protected structure. We don’t know when the shed was taken down but there was an agreement to take it down within three months,’ said Mr O’Donoghue.

‘But you were trading in September and continuing to make money and there has been a continuous breach since June 2022.’

He added that the defendant was ‘flying in the face’ of a court order and waited until the last minute to comply with the signed agreement.

‘We don’t believe the court should see it as compliance as the defendant has been brought here kicking and screaming.’

Mr O’Donoghue told Judge Carroll that they believed a ‘monetary fine’ would be more appropriate than applying the Probation Act as this has ‘continued on and on.’

Barrister Tom Power (BL) on behalf of Quills Retail Ltd expressed his client’s contrition for what had happened. He said that those who had stalls had a livelihood since Covid.

‘It was difficult to get them out and dispose of their livelihood,’ said Mr Power, who confirmed that his client has complied with the signed agreement he made with Cork County Council.

Judge Carroll described it as a ‘very complex matter’ and she suspected a lot of ‘diplomacy’ was involved in it.

‘I heard this case previously at Bantry District Court and an agreement was signed and had to be implemented,’ said Judge Carroll, who applied the Probation Act to Quills Retail Ltd.