Imam Sheikh Hussein Halawa, who has, among others, been locked out of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Clonskeagh, Dublin, since April, has been refused a High Court order requiring the Islamic Cultural Foundation of Ireland to restore him to aspects of his position and duties that do not require the chained-up mosque to be reopened.
Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds instead made directions regarding the exchange of written evidence in the proceedings and put the matter back to mid-September. She also directed that the foundation address the health and safety concerns that had given rise to the closure of the mosque.
Judge Reynolds told Mr Halawa’s legal team he had seriously delayed in bringing the proceedings since the closure in April. Mediation talks had terminated on Wednesday and his application was being brought without proper notice to the foundation.
The court also held that the request allowing Mr Halawa, who is 69 and approaching retirement, to perform duties outside the mosque had not been made through correspondence and the foundation had not had an opportunity to set out the reasons for the closure because it had not been served with papers backing up his application.
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Barrister Niall O’Huiginn, for the Islamic Cultural Foundation, told Judge Reynolds that Mr Halawa’s application was not an appropriate one to have been brought to court. He said he had not been involved in the mediation that had failed to deliver a successful outcome.
He said there had been no evidence of urgency to have brought such an application during the legal vacation and Mr Halawa was continuing to be paid even though the mosque had been closed due to unfortunate circumstances.
Cliona Kimber SC, for Mr Halawa, said her client was unable to minister to his parishioners and his reputation was being very publicly damaged. He had been left sitting at home without invitation to public ceremonies that included the President of Ireland, the Taoiseach and Government Ministers.
Judge Reynolds said there was no reason why the parties could not decide to return to mediation to resolve the issues and she was concerned there may be an ongoing garda investigation. Mr O’Huiginn said certain incidents had certainly been reported to the gardaí.
She said she was not disposed to granting interim injunctions to Mr Halawa and there were other avenues available to him such as defamation proceedings. She would afford the foundation to put in a replying affidavit to that of the plaintiff and a number of weeks and days for a further exchange of documents.
