Caution must be exercised over this maxim. In general, it has no application where a cause of action is governed by the Republic’s Statute of Limitations 1957 (or the Limitation (NI) Order 1989), although there is an exception where the statutory limitation period is extended owing to a disability affecting the plaintiff and the constitutional right to fair procedures may come into play in the Republic: see O’Domhnaill v Merrick [1984] IR 151; Toal v Duignan (No 2) [1991] ILRM 140; Guerin v Guerin [1992] 2 IR 287. See also Brady and Kerr, The Limitations of Actions (2nd 1994), pp 18-19 and 37-38. It is also the case that the courts have tended to apply the statutory limitation periods to cases strictly outside the statute but so clearly akin as to justify similar treatment: see Barbour v Houston , p 1 supra . However, subject to such rules, equity developed its own ...