The Gazette 1976

GAZETTE

J UN E/J U LY

1976

owns a shopping centre known as Boyne Centre, Drogheda. The ap- plication is for a declaration under S. 15 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1960 that the premises in the shop- ping centre, when altered under the plans submitted, will be convenient to be licensed under S. 4 of the Licensing (Ireland) Act 1902. The formal proofs required by S. 4 have been duly complied with in this case, but no effective trading has been carried on in the premises in the last two years. Fifty five in- dividual licensees and the Star and Crescent Club have objected to the granting of the licence on the ground of (1) The unfitness of the appli- cant, (2) The unfitness of the pre- mires, and (3) the number of previously licensed premises in the town. As to (1), this objection is open, and may be dealt with later. As to (2), the structure and lay-out of the premises as proposed to be adapted will be eminently suitable and fit for use as a licensed prem- ises. Evidence was tendered to show that there was a considerable amount of residential development in the district since 1940. Accord- ing to Re Cummins —{ 1964) I. R. 67, this evidence may not be taken into consideration, but only the pos- ition at present. There was con- flicting evidence as to the adequacy of the facilities and accommodation of the presently existing licensed houses, but undoubtedly some are of a very high standard and not un- duly crowded. In Re George Doyle — (1946) I. R. 125, Maguire P., in granting the licence, took into con- sideration the fact that the new lic- ences would not unduly increase the facilities in the neighbourhood. As several licences have already been granted to shopping centres, it would be inconsistent to refuse this application on that ground alone. But in this particular instance, this objection is valid. The application is accordingly refused. Re Patrick Scallan and the In- toxicating Liquor Acts—Circuit Judge McWilliam — Drogheda Cir- cuit Court—28th February, 1975— unreported. Correction: The last sentence in the State (John Hennessv and Chariot Inns Ltd.) v. Superinten. dent Commons—Supreme Court —29 July 1976 —a t page 27 should read:—The appeal is ac- cordingly dismissed and an Or- der of Certiorari and Manda- mus will be granted to District

Justice Donnelly to grant an in- terim order to carry on the trade in the licensed premises until the Annual Geeral Licensing Session. BANKING Bank not negligent in mistakenly finding overdraft due and returning cheque unpaid. There is no con- tractual relationship between the plaintiffs as payees of the cheque, who happened also to be customers of the Bank, and the Bank itself, but only between the drawers of the cheque and the Bank. The facts of this case were stated in the May, 1975, Gazette at page 108. Hamilton J. in December, 1974, held that the paying Banker defendant, by giving too wide a dis- cretion to Managers had negligently failed to exercise reasonable care and skill. He directed that an in- quiry should be held as to the the amount of damages due to plaintiff. The defendant Bank appealed. The appeal was unani- mously allowed by the Supreme Court, and Hamilton J.'s decision was reversed. O'Higgins, C. J. concurred with the judgments of Henchy J. and Kenny J. Parke J. agreed with the judgment of Griffin J. Henchy J., having fully considered the relevant matters in a detailed judgment, stat- ed the facts as follows:— At the beginning of March 1970 the services provided by Irish banks began to be disrupted. The cause was a go-slow campaign by the bank officials in support of a claim against the Banks which was being made by the officials' trade union. The immediate results of this dis- ruption of services was that within the banking system the processing of bank transactions fell into arrears. Whereas in normal con- ditions the period during which a presented cheque would be cleared and debited against the drawer's account would be at most only a few days, by the end of April 1970 some two million bank transactions, including some cheques drawn be- fore the start of the go-slow cam- paign, had not been processed. It would have taken a month's work to clear those arrears, which had accumulated both in the various

branches of the banks and in the central clearing house which the banks use for clearing each other's cheques. A stop was put to this progres- sively deteriorating situation on the 30th April 1970 when all the banks shut down. There was now a total break in banking services. This is con- tinued until the dispute was settled, upon which the banks restarted business on the 21st October 1970, but only behind closed doors. The normal method of clearing cheques through the central clear- ing house in Dublin was then adopted to cope with the moun- taineous arrears that had accumul- ated. It was decided by the Banks, as a means of dealing with the back- log of unprocessed cheques, and as the fairest and most expeditious method, and in order to bring cus- tomers' accounts up to date in readiness for the reopening of the Banks to the public, that the 1st May 1970 would be treated as the date for the posting in customers' accounts of all pending items. Palgrave Murphy Ltd., and the plaintiffs, who are the Dublin port authority, both happened to be cus- tomers of the Bank of Ireland. The account of Palgrave Murphy Ltd. was in the O'Connell Street, Dub- lin, branch, and the plaintiffs' account was in the head office in College Green. On the 26th March, 1970, Palgrave Murphy Ltd. drew a cheque for a sum amounting to £18,129.93 on their O'Connell Street account in favour of the plaintiffs. This cheque was received by the plaintiffs on the 1st April and lodged by them to their account in College Green on the same day. The account of Palgrave Murphy Ltd. was then adequate to meet the cheque. Unfortunately, because of the go-slow campaign in the banks, although this cheque passed into the central clearing house on the 2nd April 1970, it got bogged down in the arrears that were accumulating there. In fact, it did not emerge from the central clearing house until after the shut-down of the banks had ended on the 21st October 1970. Blame for this delay cannot be attributed to the Bank of Ireland. 31 Henchy J. then stated the facts as follows:—