Judgement on celebrity couple Pamela Flood and Ronan Ryan's eviction from €900k home delayed

Former Miss Ireland and TV presenter Pamela Flood can celebrate her 48th birthday tonight knowing a court has delayed judgment on any decision that would see her and restaurateur husband Ronan Ryan being put out of their €900,000 home in leafy Clontarf, Dublin.

Judge Jacqueline Linnane reserved her decision on applications by multi-billion-dollar fund Tanager to evict the couple and their young family of four on the strength of a possession order granted in the Circuit Civil Court on March 8th last and overturn a Protective Certificate her husband obtained in personal insolvency proceedings.

Barrister Rudi Neuman, counsel for Tanager, has also told the judge that should she accede to the applications his client would be considering asking the court to attach and commit the couple to prison for breaching a consent court order that they would leave their home at 136 Mount Prospect Avenue, Clontarf, on or before July 9.

Mr Neuman earlier told Judge Linnane that instead of vacating the property as they had said they would, Mr Ryan (47) had obtained a Protective Certificate under personal insolvency legislation which means he could not be touched by any creditor for 70 days.

There is still 35 days to run on the Certificate which can be extended, by permission of a court, up to a maximum of 150 days.

Mr Neuman told Judge Linnane Thursday that she had powers to overturn the Protection Certificate and permit Tanager to proceed to immediately execute their order for possession it had obtained on March 8.

In a new sworn affidavit Mr Ryan said he and his wife live in a very modest four bedroom home of about 150 square metres with a tiny back garden.

He denied it was a trophy home and said they had four young children and the benefit of lovely neighbours, schools, family and friends in the area. He did not think it was unreasonable that they would like to maintain that position.

Mr Ryan said he had previously signed four voluntary sale agreements on the basis he could cease payments on his loan but had then been told to take the house off the market because his loan had been sold on.

There had been three sale agreements all of which had been collapsed by either a bank or a prospective purchaser.

“I must explain that the reason I consented to the possession order (on March 8 last) was in circumstances where I believed I had no other options,” he stated. “I do not have any fight left in me and I simply want to resolve my financial difficulties and keep my home.”

He said he would struggle to ever get a new mortgage loan and his home was in all reality the only place he might ever call his home again.

“I consented under extreme pressure from the legal proceedings and the health and mental strain….I had left myself in a hopeless position and I sought advice and applied for personal insolvency,” Mr Ryan stated.

He understood he was eligible for a Protective Certificate and as he had a number of creditors he wanted to make a proposal to resolve his financial difficulties with all his creditors.

I am insolvent and I cannot meet my debts as they fall due and, while not relevant at this stage, I have raised about €80,000 in third party lump sums that I hope to contribute to my Personal Insolvency Application and I hope this will go some way towards meeting all of my debts, clearing some of my arrears and making a fresh start.

He said he wanted to pay his mortgage and save his home and to engage with Tanager through his Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP) to see what arrangements might be possible.

“Lest there be any doubt the simplest route for me in all of this is to walk away from all of my debt,” he stated. “I do not want a free ride, a free home or any of the other comments made. I am a hard working man and I was caught by the recession and a huge downturn in trade. Finally in 2019 I am back on my feet.”

Mr Ryan said he had not disclosed to his PIP, Mr James Green, the full extent of the court order but had not done so out of any deceit or unwillingness to disclose and for which he apologised. Since the order had been so widely published in the media he simply did not know this was of material relevance.

He told the court in his affidavit that he had been making payments in the sum of €3,700 a month and under took to keep the house in good order during the life of the Protective Certificate. He would continue to make payments.

“As a show of bona fides and good faith and in an effort to make amends I have obtained support from friends and family and raised a quite significant lump sum that will be available for creditors,” he said.

Ryan stated the €80,000 would only be available through his insolvency proceedings and only available where Tanager was involved in that process. He had not intended to frustrate or offend the Circuit Court order for possession.

Ross Maguire, SC, who appeared with barrister Simon Downey and Cork solicitor Eugene Carley for Mr Ryan and his wife, told Judge Linnane that in his opinion she did not have the power to overturn the Protective Certificate obtained on Mr Ryan’s behalf by the PIP.

Mr Neuman, who appeared with Amoss Solicitors for Tanager, said Mr Ryan had known since proceedings were issued in 2016 that he could have consented to co-operate with Tanager had he so wished.