ACC BANK has told the High Court it will challenge a ruling in the Northern Ireland High Court on Monday declaring a Co Wicklow businessman a bankrupt.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne yesterday exercised the court’s power here not to recognise the Northern Ireland’s court’s adjudication if the court was satisfied the application had been made solely to frustrate the Dublin court’s jurisdiction to deal with the matter.

She put a stay on any further steps being taken in the bankruptcy of Co Wicklow businessman Sean McCann to enable ACC and Mr McCann himself to challenge the question of the centre of main interest in the bankruptcy proceedings.

The judge told Micheal Ó Scanaill SC, for the bank, that there had been no clear evidence in relation to collusion in the matter but said ACC had raised issues that caused concern. She said that in her view no form of collusion had taken place but she was satisfied ACC had not been given an opportunity to be heard in Northern Ireland on the question of centre of main interest.

She told Benedict Ó Floinn, counsel for Mr McCann, that she would put a stay on further steps being taken in the bankruptcy proceedings to enable ACC and Mr McCann of Killegar, Enniskerry, and Botanic Court, Belfast, to challenge the centre of main interest in the Northern Ireland case.

Mr Ó Scannaill said Mr McCann had been declared a bankrupt in the North on Monday and it was ACC’s case this had been done over a debt of £1,400 to frustrate bankruptcy proceedings in the State.

ACC alleges Mr McCann had signed a guarantee indemnity over a loan of €5.55 million to Killorglin Investments Ltd in 2006 for the development of an 11-acre site in Killorglin.

Judge Dunne said the application to decide the question of the centre of main interest should be made in Northern Ireland before any further application is brought before the court in the Republic.