David Drumm's widowed sister-in-law given six months to leave €600k home
Rachael Drumm said: “I have never been given a chance to resolve this case by myself…..I was under duress during my marriage to Ken and never had my own say on money. His reactions subsequently meant I had to get a barring order and a social worker helped me and the children through a very difficult separation.” Photo: Collins Courts
Widowed mother of four, Rachel Drumm — a sister-in-law of disgraced former Anglo Irish Bank CEO David Drumm — was given six months on Wednesday to find alternative accommodation for herself and her family after a judge confirmed the execution of a repossession order on their €600,000 Skerries, Co. Dublin, home.
Mrs Drumm was in tears in the Circuit Civil Court when her barrister Keith Farry told Judge John O’Connor she had consented to the execution order being made against her and asked that she be given a 16-month stay to enable her teenage daughter to complete her secondary school education.
Judge O’Connor told Mr Farry, who appeared with Barry Creed of McDermott, Creed and Martyn solicitors, there was an air of unreality about Mrs Drumm’s hopes and expectations and granted her a six-month stay. The judge said six months should be enough time to allow her to contact her local authority with regard to the provision of alternative accommodation but advised that she should act quickly on the matter.
Mrs Drumm, in an affidavit, told the court she was now working full time as a senior account manager, and had hoped to reach an arrangement with Mars Capital Ireland Limited which had taken over her mortgage.
Barristter Shaula Connaughton Deeny, who appeared with Ivor Fitzpatrick Solicitors for the bank, told Judge O’Connor there was no hope of Mrs Drumm being able to pay off the €2 million debt on her home, Summerville, Foxgrove, Skerries, Co. Dublin. Ms Connaughton Deeny said the arrears on the mortgage were close to €1million.
She said Judge Jacqueline Linnane had granted possession of the property in 2015 and Mars Capital was now seeking vacant possession following a three-month stay.
Mrs Drumm, who opposed the granting on the final execution of Judge Linnane’s order, said she wished to engage with Mars Capital as there had been a material and fundamental change in her circumstances following the death in London in October last year of her former husband, Kenneth Drumm.
She said she was now a single mother with four dependent children and two elderly parents to care for. Her youngest daughter, an international footballer, was still at school and she wished to remain in her home until she had completed her final examinations.
Mrs Drumm said she had contributed towards repayments on her loan but found that her ex-husband had not been forwarding the money to the bank. He had gone to the UK and had left her to rear their four children by herself.
She said her four children were her college student son, Rian (24) and her second son Dan (22), also at college, and Jack (18) studying business in Dundalk IT. Her youngest and only daughter Kate (16) is a 5th-year student and the most vulnerable of the family who had represented her country in soccer playing for the under-16s and is with Peamount United FC. She had been offered a football scholarship in the US once she finishes school.
Mrs Drumm said that if she was given time she would engage with the bank. All of her children had been deeply affected by the divorce and a further shock and material life change in relation to their home could have massive implications.
She set out serious personal issues regarding herself and said if not given a chance to resolve her financial problems they would be homeless. There were no houses or apartments to rent in Skerries or anywhere locally and their lives, work, school and college would come to a halt. The future was scary despite having sought and been promised aid from some family and friends.
Mr Farry said David Drumm was also a borrower on the property and Mrs Drumm said in her affidavit that only in recent times had she got to the bottom of what had been going on with the mortgage.
“I now have the EBS computer notes outlining correspondence between EBS (the former lender) and David Drumm and Ken Drumm,” Mrs Drumm said. “I did not know this was occurring.” She said she was paying €650 monthly into one of the EBS accounts and she thought her husband Ken had been paying the remainder. She had paid this from 2019 until 2021 and only stopped because Ken had locked her out of the account, changing all details and would not give her the login.
“I presume now it was so that I wouldn’t find out he wasn’t actually paying anything into the account,” she said.
She said she would now attend with a Personal Insolvency Practitioner. She had been ordered to leave the house in 2015 which she had done and had moved into rental accommodation for three years. The court heard Mrs Drumm and her family had afterwards moved back in to the house and Mrs Drumm told Judge O’Connor she now appreciated the situation she was in.
“David Drumm, Ken’s brother, was also named on the mortgage which I didn’t know at the time and I now need to understand how his bankruptcy affected this debt and asset,“ Mrs Drumm said in her sworn affidavit. “David also had some convictions in relation to false accounting and Ken was, up until his death, working with David in the UK and possibly needed to shield him from any fallout from this, so he was not intent and very slow at resolving the issues with the home loan with the bank.”
She said she had asked Ken to come to Ireland to meet with the bank with her to resolve matters but he never fully engaged. She believed EBS had caused delays in order to move the debt off their books.
“I have never been given a chance to resolve this case by myself…..I was under duress during my marriage to Ken and never had my own say on money. His reactions subsequently meant I had to get a barring order and a social worker helped me and the children through a very difficult separation,” Mrs Drumm said.
She said Ken refused to co-operate with her or the bank as a punishment to her. The bank's eight-year delay in seeking execution of the repossession order was a material, inordinate and inexcusable delay. No steps to execute had been taken during the three years she was out of the property.
Mrs Drumm said she had now taken new legal advice in the last few days and was progressing to ascertain the position of her late husband’s representatives, the estate, and most importantly life and insurance policies.
Judge O’Connor said he was deeply sympathetic to the family and health situation as it affected Mrs Drumm but reality had to be faced. His was not a court of appeal and he could not overturn the decision of his former colleague Judge Linnane.
Granting Mrs Drumm six months stay of his order allowing the bank to execute the repossession order, he said he would make no order as to costs against Mrs Drumm on today’s hearing.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
