TWELVE ORDERS for possession were granted at the High Court yesterday, including six against a man who claimed the court was acting on a “whim” and “at the behest of the bank”.

The investor landlord and his wife had taken out a loan from ACC Bank secured against eight properties in Meath and Louth in 2006.

After running into difficulties, they sold two of the properties in 2009.

The proceeds were used to clear their arrears and the balance was paid towards their debt. But they fell behind with repayments again and the Commercial Court subsequently gave a judgment against the couple for €1.9 million and a receiver was appointed to the properties. They now owed €2.1 million, counsel for the lender said.

The defendant told Miss Justice Elizabeth Dunne he and his wife had an agreement with the bank that the balance of … Read More »

A €4.25 million settlement has been approved by the High Court for a boy who is paraplegic as a result of devastating injuries suffered by him six years ago, when a car driven by his mother was involved in a head-on collision with a truck.

Seán McCullagh, now 10, was a back-seat passenger in a belted-in booster seat in the car at the time of the crash, which occurred on Ballycoolin Road, Blanchardstown, Dublin, in February 2006 when his mother swerved to avoid a pothole. He suffered catastrophic injuries.

Mr Justice Gerard Hogan in the High Court heard that the truck driver was exonerated of any blame in the matter.

Seán, through his father Rory, Summerfield Avenue, Blanchardstown, had brought proceedings against his mother as the insured driver of the car.

Liability was accepted and the case was before Mr Justice Hogan for assessment … Read More »

DECISION OF THE PRESS COUNCIL: THE PRESS Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint by Mr Patrick Kelly that an article published in The Irish Times on 22 July 2011 about a legal case in which he was involved was in breach of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The article, headlined “Teacher loses challenge to UCD course ruling” was a brief summary of a lengthy and complex decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union on a number of issues referred to that Court by the High Court in Ireland in connection with a long-running legal case involving the complainant and the authorities of University College, Dublin.

Shortly after receiving a letter of complaint from the complainant the newspaper published, without further reference to the complainant, a statement in its “Corrections and Clarifications” column, about the article … Read More »

A MAN has been awarded €100,000 damages at the High Court over serious facial injuries suffered after he fell through a glass door during an incident outside a Co Donegal nightclub.

Paul Brady (37), a painter and decorator, of The Beeches, Ballybofey, Donegal, was left with severe disfiguring scars to his face after the incident, which started when he tried to break up a fight as he and some friends left Stampies nightclub in Ballybofey on October 27th, 2002.

He had alleged negligence against Bridget Heeney and her sons Terence Michael and Aidan Heeney as owners and operators of the nightclub. He claimed that, at the time of the incident, they were owners of a premises close to the nightclub’s exit, and he had fallen through a glass door of that premises.

Mr Brady told the court that, on the night of the … Read More »