Entertainer Michael Flatley has lost an appeal attempt over a decision to refer a row about his mansion in Co Cork to arbitration.
On Thursday the Court of Appeal dismissed his bid to appeal part of the High Court’s decision to refer to arbitration a dispute between him and his former insurer Hiscox.
The row is over a €30 million claim on the policy for his Fermoy property.
Giving the court’s judgment, Mr Justice Donald Binchy said he was satisfied that section 11 of the Arbitration Act operated as a ”complete bar to an appeal from the High Court”. Ms Justice Nuala Butler and Ms Justice Niamh Hyland agreed.
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Ronnie Hudson, for Mr Flatley, told the court his client has instructed his solicitor to bring a constitutional challenge and to instruct senior counsel on the matter.
The challenge is to relate to section 11 of the Act, which says there is no right of appeal from a High Court decision referring a dispute to arbitration.
Mr Hudson said Mr Flatley was not going to initiate arbitration with the insurer.
Last June, Mr Flatley had lost a High Court action aimed at preventing his multimillion euro claim against Hiscox over allegedly defective work done to Castlehyde being referred to out-of-court arbitration.
Mr Justice Michael Twomey had rejected his claim that Hiscox, in trying to get Mr Flatley to arbitrate rather than litigate its dispute with him, was seeking to avoid its responsibility to him.
The Court of Appeal on Thursday heard there were two insurance policies at issue in the case. It heard the Flatley side accepted that a claim made under a 2023-2024 policy was correctly stayed by the High Court when referred for arbitration, and the appeal court has no jurisdiction on the matter.
Mr Justice Binchy said the Flatley side was seeking to divide the order of the High Court and claimed he was entitled to appeal in relation to the 2022-2023 insurance policy.
In an affidavit opened during the High Court hearing, Mr Flatley had claimed Hiscox – which covered his Fermoy estate until last year – was trying to rewrite his consumer household policy into a commercial policy in order to rely on the Arbitration Act.
Hiscox Société Anonyme denies his claims. It had applied to the High Court to have the proceedings against it before the Commercial Court – where Mr Flatley has been suing several parties over alleged damage to the mansion – stayed pending arbitration.
In the main Commercial Court proceedings, which are continuing, Mr Flatley claims he and his family had to vacate Castlehyde in October 2023 after toxic chemical residue was detected at the mansion during routine maintenance. He has sued several parties, including Hiscox.
