Limerick man gets court protection over €20,000 wedding reception debts

A Limerick man with assets valued at 96 cent has secured court protection from his bank over unpaid debts concerning a €20,000 loan he took out to pay for his wedding reception.

Judge Patrick Meaghan yesterday granted a debt relief notice certificate to the unemployed Castletroy man at Ennis Circuit Court.

The notice is available to those under the Government's new insolvency laws and its granting now gives the man court protection from the Bank of Ireland for three years over his unpaid debts.

At the end of the three years, the debt will be written off as long as the man complies with the terns of the Personal Insolvency Act.

Judge Meaghan said the man obtained the €20,000 loan from the Bank of Ireland for the wedding reception. He has a total of €17,480 outstanding to the bank arising from the wedding reception loan.

The court heard the man has a monthly income of €742 from the Department of Social Protection and outgoings of €840 before paying debts, leaving a monthly deficit of €98. He was not in court for the short hearing.

Ennis priest Fr Tom Hogan said debt could be a “millstone around [the] necks” of a couple starting off in their marriage. “There is a lot of social pressure on couples to have the best wedding possible.”