Callely consents to €11 million judgment

Former Fianna Fáil TD and senator Ivor Callely has consented to an €11 million judgment being entered against him at the High Court.

The Irish branch of Investec Bank plc had brought proceedings against Mr Callely, with an address at St Lawrence's Road, Clontarf, Dublin, arising from a March 2007 loan agreement under which some €9.85 million was advanced to Mr Callely and three other borrowers: – John O'Dolan, Denis Kenny and Daragh Sharkey – to purchase property.

The bank claimed all four borrowers were jointly and severally liable to repay it under that agreement.

The case against Mr Callely was listed today before Mr Justice Kevin Cross, who was told by Ciaran Lewis, for the bank,  that Mr Callely was consenting to judgment for an €11 million sum and the bank was agreeable to that.  The judge entered judgment for that sum. Mr Callely was not in court.

In its action, the bank claimed the loan agreement provided that the sum advanced,  plus accrued interest, was to be repaid a year after the March 30th, 2007, date of drawdown of the loan.

The bank said it later agreed to extend the final repayment date to June 30th, 2008, and it brought the proceedings after making several demands for repayment. It claimed the sum due, with interest, was some €11.6 million but the sum Mr Callely agreed to was €11 million plus costs.

In response to the bank’s claim, Mr Callely had argued, among other claims, that the loan agreement contemplated the execution by him of a guarantee and indemnity with the clear implication that his liability under the loan was to be under that guarantee and indemnity. In those circumstances, he argued the case was improperly constituted.

Without prejudice to that claim, he also argued that, unknown to him and without his consent,  the bank had paid a €500,000 sum to one of his co-borrowers, John O’Dolan, now deceased, which was then used to pay off Mr O’Dolan’s personal debts with the bank.

Mr Callely had also made a number of claims as to how a bank-appointed receiver had managed the property at issue and said he intended to take proceedings in that regard.

The bank argued that Mr Callely had no defence to its claim and also said he was incorrect in relation to his allegations about a payment to Mr O’Dolan. There was no payment of €500,000 from the loan account to Mr O’Dolan and Mr Callely was referring to a payment into a separate account under a different name in relation to which Mr Callely had no interest or liability whatsoever, it said.