Man locked out of Islamic Cultural Centre refused court order to restore him of his duties

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3 days ago

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 those 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.
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Judge Reynolds told Halawa's legal team he had seriously delayed in bringing the proceedings since the closure in April, whenever mediation talks had terminated only on Wednesday morning, and his application was being brought without proper notice to the Foundation.
The court also held that the request allowing Halawa, 69, and approaching retirement, 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.
Barrister Niall O'Huiginn, counsel for the Islamic Foundation, told Judge Reynolds that Halawa's application was not an appropriate one to have been brought to court. He said he had not been involved in the mediation, which 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.
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Cliona Kimber SC, for 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 an 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.
Outside of any mediation and legal proceedings, there have been reports of rows and an alleged heave to displace Halawa as Imam, as well as governance issues and calls for a change in leadership of the Islamic Cultural Centre. Halawa is the father of Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa, who was released in 2017 after having spent four years in an Egyptian prison.
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An attack on the Mosque and Centre, which have been chained up, has been publicly reported and the attendance at the premises by gardaí. It is claimed a decision to lock up the premises had been made because of concern for the safety of schoolchildren at the centre.