Nuisance

• What are the two types of nuisance?

  1. Public
  2. Private
• What does public nuisance involve? Example?

  It involves interference with a public right, blocking public road
• How does McMahon and Binchy describe public nuisance?

  Injury to the reasonable comfort and convenience of the public or a section of the public
• Who alone can sue for Public Nuisance where the public is injured?

  The Attorney General
• When can a P take civil proceedings in public nuisance?

  When P has suffered 'particular' or 'special' damage over and above that suffered by other members of the public
• Key English case regarding public nuisance?

  Smith v Wilson [1903]
• What is private nuisance according to Tully?

  Private nuisance defies exact definition
• Name of the 1997 case involving Royal Dublin Society?

  Royal Dublin Society v Yates [1997]
• How does Shanley J describe private nuisance in RDS v Yates [1997]?


  Private nuisance consists of any interference without lawful justification of a person's use and enjoyment of his property
• What three things does the law of private nuisance provide protection for, according to Tully?

  1. Land per se
  2. Use of land
  3. Enjoyment of land
• Is private nuisance actionable per se? Why/Why not?

  It is not actionable per se as actual damage must proved
• According to Healy, what are the 5 elements of private nuisance?

  1. D is responsible for the conduct giving rise to nuisance
  2. D's conduct damages or interferes with the P's right to enjoy his property
  3. Unreasonableness
  4. Causation
  5. Absence of defence
• What is the first element of private nuisance?

  D is responsible for the conduct giving rise to Nuisance
• Name of the 1945 Irish case involving the first element of private nuisance and a landlord?

  Goldfarb v Williams [1945]
• Why was the landlord found liable in Goldfarb v Williams [1945]?


  Landlord liable because nuisance was an inevitable consequence
• Name of the Irish SC case involving newsagents staying open 24hrs?

  O'Kane v Campbell [1985]
• What was the decision in O'Kane v Campbell [1985]?


  The night trading of the newsagents constituted nuisance to the plaintiff in her right to enjoy her house (Lynch J)
• What is the second element of private nuisance?


  D's conduct damages or interferes with P's right to enjoy his property
• What constitutes damage according to the second element of private nuisance?

  1. Physical injury to land or property
  2. Ill-health of occupier
  3. Ill-health of animals/damage to plants
• Name of the 1976 case involving Tara Mines?

  Halpin v Tara Mines Ltd [1976]
• What happened in Halpin v Tara Mines Ltd [1976]?

  Due to the vibrations of the mine, there was cracks in the building
• Name of the Hanrahan 1988 case?

  Hanrahan v Merck, Sharpe and Dohme [1988]
• What happened in Hanrahan [1988]?

  Factory in Tipperary near P's farm emitted offensive smells from factory
• What are four examples of interference with the enjoyment of the land?

  1. Noise
  2. Smells
  3. Dust
  4. Vibrations (Halpin [1976])
• How did Lord Westbury describe the interference with the land in St Helens Smelting Co v Tipping [1865]?


  Personal inconvenience and interference with one's enjoyment, one's quiet, one's personal freedom, anything that discomposes or injuriously affects the senses or nerves
• Who created the test for determining the interference of P's enjoyment of the land in Hanrahan v Merck, Sharp & Dohme [1988]?

  Henchy J
• What was Henchy J's 3-step criteria for determining interference in Hanrahan [1988]?


  Interference must be:

  1. More than what an objectively reasonable person can put up with
  2. Be pronounced and prolonged
  3. Person of normal average sensibilities would not tolerate
• What is the third element of private nuisance?

  Unreasonableness
• What is the difference with reasonableness in nuisance compared to reasonableness in negligence?

  Reasonableness in negligence is judged through the eyes of the D, while in nuisance reasonableness is judged through the eyes of the P
• What are the five factors to determine unreasonableness?

  1. Utility of the D's conduct
  2. The D's motive
  3. Planning Permission
  4. Nature of the locality
  5. Sensitivity of the P
• What does it mean when courts look at the utility of the D's conduct with regards to unreasonableness?

  Courts look to see if there's a public benefit in the activity or conduct constituting nuisance
• Name of the case where Whitelock J stated that it was for the common good that the papers be destroyed than good liquor be destroyed?

  Jones v Powell [1628]
• Name of the Irish case involving blasting in Drogheda for cement company?

  Bellew v Cement Ltd [1948]
• What did the D's argue in Bellew v Cement Ltd [1948]?


  D's argued the urgent public necessity of their cement production
• Name of the 1997 case involving the drug treatment centre on Pearse Street?

  Clifford v Drug Treatment Centre Board [1997]
• What did McCracken J rule in Clifford v Drug Treatment Centre Board [1998]?


  He ruled that if he granted an injunction, 'it would be that less drug addicts would be treated, which is clearly against the public interest...'
• When can a lawful act become nuisance?

  It it is done deliberately or with malice
• Name of the UK case involving the neighbour whistling in retaliation of the music lessons?

  Christie v Davey [1893]
• What did North J say in Christie v Davey [1893]?


  I am satisfied that they were made deliberately and maliciously for the purpose of annoying the plaintiffs
• Name of the 1936 case involving silver fox and the D firing gun to disrupt breeding?

  Hollywood Silver Fox Farm v Emmett [1936]