The dispute surrounding the allocation of licences to land on Skellig Michael has been resolved.
At the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Garrett Simons was told that the parties had reached a settlement.
Late last year, the Office of Public Works (OPW) held a tender competition to award permits to 15 businesses to land passengers on Sceilg Mhichíl this summer.
Some of boat companies which lost out in the permit competition brought the OPW to court.
These court proceedings triggered an automatic suspension, stopping the OPW from issuing the permits to the winners of the tenders.
A demonstration was organised by locals last month to protest the impact of the suspension on the local economy.
Earlier this month the High Court lifted the suspension to save the season.
A hearing date for the main case had been set for July.
However, yesterday, barrister-at-law David Dodd, for two of the unsuccessful boat companies, told Mr Justice Simons that the matter had been resolved and that the full hearing next month could be vacated.
He said his clients were very happy with the outcome, especially in light of the judge’s decision earlier this month.
The judge ordered the stay be lifted, but made it clear that the main legal issues had not been settled.
These issues, including the correctness of the OPW’s process for choosing the winning companies, the legal interpretation of the tender documents, and the legal outcome of the tender such as a 5-year exclusive deal to the winners, remain unresolved.
Had the case not been settled, these issues would have had to be decided at the full hearing.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons canceled the July trial date, noted that the OPW had agreed to pay the legal costs of the two companies challenging the process, and officially closed the case.
