Treasury v Nama

LAST WEEK it was Seán Quinn caught in a media scrum outside the Four Courts

LAST WEEK it was Seán Quinn caught in a media scrum outside the Four Courts. This week it could be developer-about-town – best known for his cheeky grin and Cruella de Vil hairstyle – Johnny Ronan.

Back in January, Nama decided to appoint receivers to certain assets of Treasury Holdings – jointly owned by Ronan and his business partner Richard Barrett – in order to enforce the repayment of about €1 billion in loans.

However, in March, the High Court gave Treasury the green light to challenge Nama’s move in judicial review proceedings.

Despite some (possibly token) olive branch waving in the meantime, with Treasury offering to engage in mediation with the State agency as an alternative to a courtroom brawl, the case is due to go ahead in the Commercial Courts tomorrow.

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Taxpayers unsure whom to root for in this landmark showdown should probably take Nama’s side – if Treasury wins, the bad bank (together with KBC Bank) will have to foot half the legal bill (likely to be substantial) for the original six-day hearing of the developer’s application for permission to bring the judicial review.