The OP only asked a simple question, and might just be making a legitimate mistake here. Selling/buying a house is a once off life experience for most of us, and there does seem to be evidence of some naivety from both parties here. For those of us not familiar with the horrors & legalities of property buying/selling in Ireland, it could well be an understandable assumption that some penalty might accrue once the "verbal" agreement was broken.
I know when I bought my first & only house many years ago I was under the distinct impression (no, certainty!),that once I had paid my deposit there was no going back on the deal by either party, ie the vendor must now sell, and I must buy or forfeit my deposit. I was shocked years later to find that this was a load of codswollop that the auctioneer had told me and that either party could have pulled out at anytime up till contract signing without penalty.