Irish Nationwide sued for breach of contract

A CONSTRUCTION company has sued Irish Nationwide Building Society over €6.28 million allegedly taken wrongly from the company’s account.

Jackie Green Construction allegedly had an arrangement with the Irish Nationwide Building Society to share profits or loss from a property development in Dublin.

The company, with an address at Mercer Street Lower, Dublin, claims the €6.28 million was removed by the society without lawful authority and in breach of loan facility agreements.

The society has asserted it was entitled to remove the monies on the basis of its own calculation of the likely amount due to it via an arrangement fee under the loan facilities.

The proceedings were transferred to the Commercial Court yesterday by Mr Justice Peter Kelly who was told the society was willing to provide undertakings to retain the monies and not remove further monies from the company’s account, pending the outcome of the case.

Irish Nationwide may also apply for orders requiring the company to produce certain accounts as allegedly provided for under agreements between the sides.

The action arises from loan facilities provided by Irish Nationwide to Jackie Green Construction in 2002, 2004 and 2007 to buy and develop lands at College Drive, Terenure, Dublin. The company claims those facilities provided that the net profit or loss from the development would be shared equally between it and the society.

That arrangement was subject of three supplemental loan agreements which provided that the proceeds of sale of houses built by the company would be lodged to its account with the society pending determination of the profit or loss on the development, it is claimed.

The company claims that on the sale of each house, it lodged the proceeds to an account held in its name with the society. The development is not complete and the profit or loss from it cannot yet be ascertained, it also claims.

Despite that, it claims the society last February removed some €6.28 million from the company’s account without prior notice to the company, without lawful authority and in breach of contract.

In an affidavit, Brian Greene, a director of the company, said a dispute arose last September regarding the proposed sale of 23 housing units in the development to South Dublin County Council and Fold Ireland Housing Association.

The company was told the society would not release a deed necessary for that sale unless the company paid €4.55 million to a joint account of the company and the society.

On February 4th, Irish Nationwide wrote to the company stating it had removed some €6.28 million from the company’s account, Mr Greene said. He believed this action unlawfully deprived the company of its property and gave rise to a breach of contract.