Ireland: the representation of companies before the courts

The Supreme Court gave judgment yesterday in Allied Irish Bank plc v Aqua Fresh Fish Ltd [2018] IESC 49. The court unanimously concluded (to quote directly from the judgment of Finlay Geoghegan J at para. [48]):

The so-called rule in Battle v. Irish Art Promotion Centre Limited [1969] I.R. 252, when complemented by the inherent jurisdiction and discretion of the Court to permit, in exceptional circumstances, representation of a company by a person who is not a lawyer with a right of audience, continues to be the law in this jurisdiction and is consistent with the Constitution."