Socialite could lose Dublin home as bank seeks possession over €238k debt

A bank has asked a judge to hand it back a house owned by socialite and businesswoman Hayley Rock on foot of a debt of over €238,000.

Ms Rock, due to celebrate this weekend the second anniversary of her wedding to Belfast businessman Paul Elliot, was not in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday when KBC Bank Ireland plc sought to repossess 40 Briarwood Lawn, Clonsilla, Dublin 15.

Ms Rock’s address appeared on the civil bill as Roselawn Grove, Castleknock, Dublin, but the bank told the court it had loaned her €216,000 in February 2006 to buy the Briarwood property.

Judge Jacqueline Linnane was told the house did not comprise a family home within the meaning of the Family Home Protection Act 1976.

The bank’s claim for possession stated that Ms Rock had periodically failed to meet agreed monthly repayments and that by January last year the sum due and owing by her had reached €238,767.

A letter of demand for the outstanding debt had been issued by the bank on January 16 last year and, when it was not paid, a letter demanding possession of the property had followed in March 2014.

The bank’s demand for return of the property was made initially before county registrar Rita Considine who, when an issue on jurisdiction arose, referred it to Judge Linnane for ruling in the Circuit Civil Court.

Keith Rooney, counsel for the bank, told the court that the lender had obtained a certificate of rateable valuation governing the court’s jurisdiction to grant possession.

When Mr Rooney asked that the matter be adjourned to await a binding ruling in another case currently before the High Court, Judge Linnane put the matter back until February next.

Ms Rock is the managing director of Concierge Dublin, a service helping business clients find their way around Dublin and enjoying themselves.

The company’s website states: “We have an established network of luxury accomodation and fine dining establishments connected by our exclusive transport fleet maintained by our experienced drivers and guides.”

For a number of years the Castleknock woman ran the VIP area of Lillies Bordello night club.

A sister of Lydia Rock, the wife of Dublin footballer Alan Brogan, Ms Rock married Paul Elliott in Our Lady and St Joseph’s Church, Kildare, on Saturday, November 23, 2013. One of her bridesmaids included her best friend, former Miss World Rosanna Davison.