The Dialog Group, co-founded by US tech billionaire and Donald Trump supporter Peter Thiel, is suing the Powerscourt Hotel following the cancellation of a controversial conference, writes Helen Bruce.
It was confirmed on July 3 that the conference, which planned to discuss topics such as 'Bring Back Nuclear' and 'Battlefield Technologies,' had been cancelled following a major backlash and planned protests.
The five-star Co. Wicklow hotel stated at the time that the August event, hosted by Mr. Thiel and set to be attended by a senior Nato commander and Trump administration officials, would no longer go ahead.
The case was lodged with the Courts Service in Dublin on Tuesday, and it has already been listed for mention before the Commercial Court next Monday. The Dialog group hopes to be granted entry to the Commercial Court list, which fast-tracks business cases valued at €1 million or more.
Court records show that Dialog is being represented by Fenecas Law, whose clients in Ireland include Elon Musk's X, as well as other multinational tech and pharma companies. Its claim is for breach of contract.
The case has been lodged by Stonebrick LLC, trading as Dialog, and is brought against Sugarloaf Ventures Ltd, trading as Powerscourt Hotel, and also against the Powerscourt estate, which is the hotel's landlord, and against Scalaheen Ltd, whose directors include members of the Slazenger family.
The Powerscourt estate was bought in 1961 by Ralph and Gwen Slazenger from the 9th Viscount of Powerscourt.
The decision to cancel was welcomed by the Powerscourt Estate, which counts the hotel owners MHL Hotel Collection as a tenant, and which had said it was greatly concerned about the proposed conference.
Activists had already organised two protests and had set up an online campaign against it, citing Mr. Thiel's links with his technology company Palantir, a data analytics company which has worked with the Israeli Ministry of Defence.
Palantir has been criticised for its role in human surveillance, military operations and privacy breaches.
Opposition TDs, including Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady, had spoken out against the conference, to which six Irish people, including a member of the Oireachtas, had been invited.
The event was to have been organised by Dialog, a company Mr. Thiel set up 20 years ago to have top-level and off-the-record conversations about issues of the day with invited guests.
Mr. Thiel is a venture capitalist, a co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, and was one of the first to endorse Trump's presidential campaign.
It was never publicly advertised, but a leak to US technology magazine Wired revealed a programme of off-the-record events, which included: Money (Does?) Buy Happiness; Bring Back Nuclear; Navigating WWIII; Battlefield Technologies, and How's Your Sex Life?
Other talks included Build-a-Cult, moderated by the founder of the Christian networking site Pray.com, and Build-a-Party, run by a former White House national security official.
It also listed 222 potential guests, including Nato Europe commander Alexus Grynkewich, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and Republican senator Ted Cruz, plus sitting Trump administration officials, six former members of PayPal, an ambassador to the United States, and the founders and directors of some of the largest surveillance, data-broker, and advertising-data companies in the world.
In a statement at the time of the cancellation, the hotel said: "Powerscourt Hotel Resort & Spa confirms that a publicised event scheduled to take place in August will now not be taking place at the hotel."
A spokesperson for the Powerscourt Estate said: "Following a period of great concern for Powerscourt Estate and on foot of discussions with the Powerscourt Hotel, we are relieved and pleased to announce the Dialog event planned for August at the Powerscourt Hotel has been cancelled.
"Powerscourt Estate wish to thank all of those who supported us through this difficult and challenging time.
"Including our staff, neighbours, friends, supporters and legal team."
The estate previously said it was taking legal advice on whether it could move to cancel the event itself.
Deputy John Brady had said the conference should not be permitted to go ahead in Ireland "given the involvement of Thiel's company, Palantir, in facilitating Israel's genocide in Gaza." He said after the cancellation that the "right decision had finally been taken by Powerscourt Hotel."
He previously said the event would have seen "some of the world's wealthiest and most influential figures due to meet behind closed doors."
He explained: "A UN human rights report stated that Palantir has provided defence infrastructure, military software and its artificial intelligence, which allows automated decision-making.
"In the middle of the genocide, Palantir also announced a new strategic partnership with Israel, and the company's leadership has openly defended its role in supporting the Israeli military."
He also queried whether Irish taxpayers would be expected to cover any security or associated costs.
Responding to criticism of its work, Palantir told the UN that it complies with international and humanitarian law. It denied supplying technology used for alleged AI targeting systems in Gaza.
*This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie.
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