O’Donnell children had to declare no interest in home to get bank deal

The four adult children of solicitor Brian O’Donnell were required to provide statutory declarations they had no interest in their luxury home in Killiney, Co Dublin, in an effort to get their parents “off the hook” for €71m, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern also heard €10m was spent on refurbishing the property at Gorse Hill, Vico Rd, valued at €30m in 2006 but now said to be worth between €6m to €7m. Some art works were “missing”, Des Hanrahan of Bank of Ireland also said.

Arthur Cox, solicitors for the bank, sought statutory declarations from Blake, Blaise, Bruce, and Alexandra O’Donnell they had no interest in Gorse Hill before the bank would agree to a settlement of its legal proceedings brought against Brian and Mary Patricia O’Donnell, seeking €71m arising from unpaid loans, Mr Hanrahan, a director of the bank’s specialist property group, confirmed.

That Mar 2011 settlement broke down and the bank later secured judgment for €71m against the couple which it is now seeking to enforce.

In proceedings against the bank, the four children claim they are the legal and beneficial owners of Gorse Hill, the bank has no valid claim to it, and the court should discharge a receiver appointed by the bank over the property.

The court has heard the house and more than three acres at Gorse Hill are owned by Vico Ltd, an Isle of Man company, and the shareholding of Vico Ltd is owned by a discretionary trust set up by the O’Donnells in favour of their children. The dispute between the children and bank is whether Gorse Hill is an asset of the trust legally and beneficially owned by the children.

Mr Hanrahan agreed, without the statutory declarations from the children, there was “no deal” with their parents in Mar 2011 but he denied suggestions by Ross Maguire SC, for the children, the declarations were sought because the bank knew Gorse Hill was ultimately owned by the children.

Con Casey, a representative of the O’Donnell parents, had suggested, during a conversation in Jan 2011, the bank did not have security over Gorse Hill.

The case resumes on Wednesday.