A SECOND claim for damages by the directors of the Bula mine (in receivership) in Navan, Co Meath, which has never been brought into production, was adjourned indefinitely by Mr Justice Barr in the High Court yesterday.
The new action is against three banks, the receiver, Mr Laurence C. Crowley and a firm of consultant mining engineers.
Mr Justice Barr, in a reserved judgment, said the only hope the banks had of recovering debts, estimated at £40 million, was from the sale of the ore body.
He said the Bula directors still retained the ambition that, with others, they would one day succeed in launching a Bula lead and zinc mine at Navan.
Earlier this year the Bula directors lost a 277 day High Court action against the owners of the neighbouring Tara Mines and the State. That case is under appeal to the Supreme Court.
Yesterday, undertakings were given on behalf of the Bula directors to expedite the appeal in the first case and not mount further proceedings against the banks or receiver.
The second case was adjourned because the Bula directors had accepted that many of their claims could not succeed against Mr Crowley or the banks while certain findings of fact made by the then High Court judge in the first case (Mr Justice Lynch, who is now a member of the Supreme Court) retained their present status and validity.
Mr Justice Barr, in his judgment, said lawyers for the Bula directors had conceded their claim must fail unless they are successful in their appeal in the first action to the Supreme Court.
The proceedings are taken by Bula Ltd (in receivership), Bula Holdings, Mr Richard Wood and Mr Michael Wymes, Mr Thomas J. Roche and Mr Thomas C. Roche against Mr Crowley, Northern Bank Finance Corporation Ltd, Ulster Investment Bank Ltd and Allied Irish Investment Bank Ltd. The case against Mackay and Schnellman Ltd was settled.
In the first case judgment last February, Mr Justice Lynch had rejected claims that the Minister for Energy and Tara Mines were responsible for the failure to bring the Bula mine into production.
In the second case the directors claimed the right of the banks to monies they were presently seeking, either by principal or interest, and the title of the banks to the lands and property of Bula, was statute barred.
Mr Justice Barr said it was unlikely that the Supreme Court would deliver final judgment in the first case in less than two years from now.
Lawyers for the Bula directors had carried out a detailed analysis of Mr Justice Lynch's judgment and established there were many findings of fact and conclusions which had a crucial bearing on the primary issues raised in the second action.
He said the primary claims against the banks and Mr Crowley were enormous and had been outstanding for twelve years. This had created a particular hardship for the receiver. He was a chartered accountant in private practice of high repute who was widely regarded as having a distinguished international reputation in his field, including major receiverships.
