Michael Flatley lived ‘lifestyle of a Monaco millionaire’ by borrowing money, court told
Michael Flatley outside Belfast High Court (Liam McBurney/PA)
Michael Flatley has been living the “lifestyle of a Monaco millionaire” by borrowing money, and has an “insatiable appetite” for “lifestyle cash”, a court in Belfast has heard.
Lawyers representing Mr Flatley in the fight to clear an interim injunction said he had secured half a million euros “overnight” to end his agreement with the company blocking him from engaging with stage show .
The Irish traditional dancer and choreographer rose to international prominence performing Riverdance at Eurovision in 1994, before going on to create the stage show .
The production’s 30th anniversary tour is due to play in Dublin’s 3 Arena on February 5, continuing in 2026 in a number of countries including the UK, Germany, Croatia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Switzer Consulting is taking legal action in a civil case against the choreographer and dancer for alleged breach of contract, relating to an agreement the firm says was reached to allow it to run the dance shows.
Switzer has already secured a temporary injunction to stop Mr Flatley from interfering with the shows, with the dancer’s lawyers having argued previously the performance was in danger of “falling apart” without his involvement.
At The Chancery Court in the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast on Wednesday, Gary McHugh KC, for Switzer, argued the injunction was necessary to protect Switzer’s interests because Mr Flatley’s financial situation would have left him unable to pay damages.
The legal dispute hinges on a terms of service agreement under which Mr Flatley transferred intellectual property rights for to Switzer and they in turn were then required to provide business management services to Mr Flatley such as accounts and payroll.
For this, Mr Flatley agreed to pay the company £35,000 (€40,421) per month for the first 24 months, rising to £40,000 (€46,193) a month thereafter.
Mr McHugh read a statement by Mr Flatley’s former financial advisor Des Walsh who said the dancer “knows why he finds himself in this position”.
He said that Mr Flatley “has lived the lifestyle of a Monaco millionaire” by borrowing money “as he did not even have the minimum cash required to open a residency package”.
“At the time Michael was advised that he should not move into that wealth circle as he simply did not have the resources,” the statement read.
“Michael ignored this advice and has essentially maintained this facade of wealth using other people’s monies ever since.”
The court heard this was exacerbated by Mr Flatley’s “horrendous business mistakes, which cost him millions of additional borrowings”, at a time when “he had no income and was running out of room financially”.
Mr Walsh’s statement added: “Instead of reining in his spending, adjusting his lifetime costs and cutting his cloth to suit his measure, Michael simply borrowed more money from more people.
“It was all about image.
“All of this borrowing was used to maintain a pretence of wealth.
“Michael would borrow money from anyone he could, and constantly put pressure on everyone looking for cash.”
His affidavit also claimed Mr Flatley’s “appetite for lifestyle cash was insatiable”, and he borrowed €75,000 for a birthday party and €50,000 to join Monaco Yacht Club.
David Dunlop KC, representing Mr Flatley, pushed back on the claims that Mr Flatley “was a poor manager of his own affairs and was a man with substantial debts”, saying “ad hominem” attacks had been made on his character.
Mr Dunlop argued that Switzer’s entitlement is limited to a fee of £420,000 (€484,963) for the 60 remaining months of its terms of service agreement with Mr Flatley.
He said that “overnight” Flatley had cleared €500,000 that was being held by a solicitor in Dublin that would pay for damages to end the contract with Switzer.
“While many averments were made about Mr Flatley’s financial affairs the proof is in the pudding,” he said.
“He is the one who’s managed to generate and has made available half a million pounds.
“It’s not Mr Flatley who has the financial difficulties in this case, it is the plaintiff.”
Asserting that Switzer’s arguments had not addressed the “legal core” of the case, Mr Dunlop added: “To use a football metaphor, they attacked the player not the ball.”
Mr Dunlop further pushed back on claims made by Switzer’s legal team that the financial arrangements in the contract were essentially to protect from Flatley’s financial reputation.
He told the court: “Ultimately if there’s damage caused to the operation of the when Mr Flatley is undertaking it, well it’s his property.
“If it suffers loss that’s really his problem.
“However if he’s right, and Switzer is a completely untrustworthy agent in whom he has lost all trust whatsoever for the next 12 months or thereabouts it will control the intellectual property.
“It could do untold damage to Mr Flatley’s intellectual property.
“It has no incentive to retain the value of the intellectual property because it’s only entitled to be paid a service fee.
“So Switzer has no skin in the game really order to protect the .”
The judgment in the case will be heard on Thursday.
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