Developer Johnny Ronan’s RGRE Grafton Ltd company is the owner of all six Harry Clarke stained glass windows in Bewley’s Café in Grafton Street, Dublin, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
However, she said, the High Court judge erred in concluding that RGRE had failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the two other windows – known as the Swan Yard windows as they overlooked this yard – also were part and parcel of the building. In her judgment, she said RGRE proved on the balance of probabilities, having regard to the totality of the evidence, that the Swan Yard works were part and parcel of the premises and property of the landlord.
She allowed the appeal and rejected a cross appeal from the defendants in relation to the other four windows. Earlier, she said the major difficulty in this case was the incomplete nature of the evidence and the resulting difficulty in resolving the legal issues presented in the case.