High Court hears €19m land sale deal secured with €100 deposit

A BUILDING firm is being sued by two property developers over what a High Court judge has described as an “extraordinary” contract in which a deal for the€19 million sale of lands in Dublin was secured on a deposit of €100.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly made the remark yesterday when transferring proceedings brought by John Burke and Sean Flanagan, of Summerhill, Co Meath, against McGinley Construction Ltd, the Hollands, Lifford, Co Donegal, to the list of the Commercial Court.

Hugh O’Neill SC, for the plaintiffs, agreed the contract was “rather unusual”.

In the action, Mr Burke and Mr Flanagan claim they agreed a written contract on November 15, 2006, for the sale for €19m to McGinley’s of lands at Ravensdale Road, East Wall, Dublin, and that McGinley’s paid a sum of €100 as a deposit.

It was an express term of the contract that the sale of the property would be completed and the balance of the €19 million paid on or before May 31 last but the defendant had failed to complete the purchase, they claim. Their solicitors had served a completion notice on the defendant on June 3 but, despite this, the defendant has refused to complete the contract, it is also alleged.

Mr Burke and Mr Flanagan say they understood McGinley’s had entered into the contract with a view to commercial development of the East Wall property. They say they had sought revised planning permission with increased density for the property but that permission was refused. McGinley’s had said this refusal presented a problem for them and the parties had been unable to resolve that issue.

The plaintiffs say they are dependent on the contract being honoured to complete a number of other projects.

As well as the contract at issue, the developers also claim they entered into a number of other agreements with the defendant, including a caretaker’s agreement under which McGinley’s had taken possession of the East Wall property as caretaker for them.