Court urged to uphold McKillen decision

THE Attorney General has urged the Supreme Court to uphold a High Court decision clearing the way for the National Assets Management Agency to acquire some €2.1 billion loans of property investor Paddy McKillen and his companies.

Attorney General Paul Gallagher said the banks who loaned those monies had volunteered to go into NAMA and were entitled to assign the McKillen loans to NAMA without his consent. In entering loan agreements with those banks, Mr McKillen had already agreed contractual entitlements allowing the banks assign the loans to any party it chose, he added.

While Anglo Irish Bank CEO Mike Aynsley had said Anglo wanted to keep the McKillen loans, that followed Anglo’s voluntary decision to go into NAMA which would take over the rights and obligations of the bank regarding the loans “and no more”, the Attorney General said.