The High Court has made an order winding up the company which publishes the Limerick Independent weekly newspaper over unpaid debts.
Limerick Independent Newspapers (LIN) Ltd owes €264,000 in VAT, PAYE and PRSI to the Revenue Commissioners and it was also alleged it owed €93,261 to Webprint Concepts Ltd, Mahon Retail Park, Cork, which had printed the paper until recently, the court heard.
Mr Justice Roderick Murphy said he was satisfied to appoint Brian McEnery as liquidator to LIN on the petition of Webprint, which had demanded immediate payment last February. The Revenue supported the petition.
LIN had opposed the petition as an abuse of court process.
It argued there was a legitimate dispute between the parties over Webprint’s alleged use of cheaper paper to print the publication. LIN said Webprint had printed 75 issues using cheaper paper in breach of contract which led to complaints from advertisers about the quality of their advertisements, resulting in the newspaper having to issue credit notes to the complainants.
LIN claimed it was due some €60,000 as a result of alleged overcharging by Webprint and there was a bona fide dispute between the two companies which should be litigated through the normal court process.
Brendan Kirwan, for Webprint, argued LIN had not raised the issue of cheaper paper until a month after the winding up application. Even if it was accepted €60,000 was owed over this, and Webprint denied it was, there remained a debt of €33,000 which there had been no effort to pay.
Mr Justice Murphy said no evidence had been presented to the court in relation to credit notes to advertisers.
He also said LIN had not opposed the advertising of the winding up and, according to the documents, there was a history of the company owing substantial sums to Webprint since October 2008.
If the high water mark of LIN’s claim was that it was owed €60,000 by Webprint, there was still €33,000 outstanding, he said. No evidence had been given as to the solvency of the company, he added.
Given this and the debt to the Revenue, the judge said he would make an order appointing Mr McEnery as liquidator.