O’Donnell family lose bankruptcy bid

Retired solicitor Brian O’Donnell and his wife have lost their appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of their bid to have their bankruptcy overturned.

In the High Court last April, Ms Justice Caroline Costello ruled that Brian and Mary Patricia O’Donnell had not advanced any grounds or new evidence as a basis for annulment of the bankruptcy obtained against them by Bank of Ireland in 2013.

The three-judge Court of Appeal, in a judgment yesterday agreed and also upheld the High Court’s finding that the couple had sought to advance arguments which they were either in a position to make or, with reasonable diligence, could have made as early as March 2011.

Those arguments included their claim they had dealt with Bank of Ireland Private Banking rather than Bank of Ireland over their €71.5m debts. They claimed BOIPB was not a licensed bank.

Mr O’Donnell claimed they only “twigged” in 2014 all their dealings were with BOIPB, but the appeals court agreed with the High Court that the issue as to whether or not BOIPB was licensed to carry on business as a bank was irrelevant.

It agreed the status of the bank could not be said to have been concealed, much less fraudulently concealed, by the bank.

The appeals court ruled the High Court had correctly refused Mr O’Donnell’s bid to strike out, on hearsay and other grounds, evidence of some bank officials.

Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan concluded the couple had advanced no grounds on which the appeal court could find the High Court judge erred in her decision. The couple had not disputed they received the monies at issue, she noted.

There must be compelling reasons to undo the machinery of bankruptcy and no such reasons were advanced, she held.

Mr O’Donnell was not in court and the judges agreed to an application by his son Blake to adjourn costs issues to January.

Mark Sanfey, for Chris Lehane, the official administering the O’Donnells’ bankruptcy, said he would be seeking his costs.