Business law of contract between hotel, Inc. and the government of Ireland
An American hotel group, Hotels, Inc. [plaintiff] sued the government of Ireland [defendant]for alleged non-fulfillment of certain contractual clauses by both parties, resulting in thetermination of the contract.
The Issue:
Both parties allege the other violated certain clauses in a mutually agreed upon contract signed in 2015. Hotels, Inc. approached the government of Ireland with a proposal to build 20 resorts across the country in different locations, all containing a golf course and leisure areas.
The government was very excited about the proposal and offered to give Hotels, Inc. a 20% tax incentive on all of the properties once they were in full operation, in exchange for Hotels, Inc. choosing Ireland as the country to expand their hotel offerings. The parties signed the contract. Thereafter, Hotels, Inc. spent 16 months acquiring different pieces of land, building 65% percent of the structures and also beginning to hire some
of the staff that would be working at the various hotels. In month 17, during a particularly difficult recession in the country of Ireland, the Irish government voted to abolish any tax incentives for hotels within the country, even those that were agreed upon within the last 10 years. This was decided to try and raise money for the cash strapped government. Hotels, Inc. brought suit claiming that the country of Ireland breached the agreement they signed by doing away with the tax incentives, and has stopped work on all the hotel projects in the country. For its part, Ireland claims Hotel, Inc. has breached the agreement by not completing all of the hotel projects and opening for business, thereby potentially doing
damage to the local economies in those communities.
Question 1: Was a contract formed between Hotel, Inc. and the government of Ireland?
Please list the most important elements of a contract and whether or not they were all satisfied in this instance.
Question 2: What potential defenses could either side claim to bolster their claim of being awarded damages?
Question 3: Could the contract between the parties in this case be governed by the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods?
Answer preview:
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