Eviction row puts spotlight on reality of repossessions

THERE is a sense of ivory tower delusion around the extraordinary story of a well-heeled Killiney couple who have vowed to fight a repossession order which put them out of their plush five-bedroom home.

Brendan and Asta Kelly, 71 and 63, were forcibly evicted from the Dublin property on Wednesday in unsavoury circumstances, but they are not the kind of evictees you would expect to see turfed out on the street by bailiffs.

They are — or were — successful business people, who took out a mortgage worth about €2m with Anglo Irish Bank to buy the property, and reportedly have a substantial property portfolio and are themselves landlords — though it is not clear if they are making an income or just paying off other mortgages.