Born: July 16th, 1942
Died: November 17th, 2022
Michael Wymes, co-founder of the Bula mining company, has died aged 80 after a short illness.
He first came to public attention for Bula’s involvement in the longest-running legal action in the history of the State. However, Wymes was also a veterinary surgeon and barrister and he represented Ireland abroad in basketball competitions.
He was the third of four children, born to Anna Devlin, a teacher, and Michael Wymes, who would later become garda commissioner. The family grew up on Collins Avenue, Dublin, which was semi-rural back then. He spent most of his time outdoors, cycling around the quiet country roads and visiting beaches in north county Dublin.
Wymes loved sport and enjoyed many pheasant shooting expeditions with his father in Monaghan and Louth
The family maintained strong links with Monaghan and Louth, where Anna and Michael came from, and returned there frequently. He was close to his mother and often spoke about the shock and sadness of her death when he was just 19.
He loved sport and enjoyed many pheasant shooting expeditions with his father in Monaghan and Louth. He excelled at tennis and basketball and was proud to represent Ireland abroad in basketball competitions in 1960 and 1961.
His love of animals led him to study veterinary science at UCD and he remembered those days as among the happiest in his life. He worked as a vet in Kinvara and around the Gaeltacht region for a few years and enjoyed deploying his Irish whenever he got a chance.
At this stage he had met and married Dubliner Eleanor Roche. His veterinary career proved to be short-lived, as, two years after they married, he qualified as a barrister. However, he didn’t get a chance to ply his trade as he took another career swerve, this time into something that would define his life for years to come.
It started with the discovery of a lead and zinc orebody near Tara Mines, in Co Meath by Tara Exploration in 1970. Some 120 acres of the land was owned by farmer Patrick Wright and Tara Mines entered negotiations to buy it. Wymes spotted an opportunity. He set up Bula Mines with his father-in-law, Tom Roche, who was co-founder of Roadstone, and Cork businessman Richard Wood. They bought the land from Wright in March 1971, giving the farmer an equity stake.
The government owned the minerals under the land adjacent to the farm and issued a minerals acquisitions order to acquire Wright’s land and minerals but this was successfully challenged by Bula on technical grounds. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling in 1974.
The following year, the government took a 49 per cent share in Bula, paying £9.54 million for a 24 per cent stake in the company and receiving another 25 per cent for free. This deal proved controversial for the minister involved, Justin Keating, with claims that it would not benefit the State.
Meanwhile, Bula’s problems began to mount. Planning permission was repeatedly refused, and it took until late 1983 to secure planning. Interest on borrowings grew and financial problems multiplied with every delay. The company debt had risen to £14 million when a receiver was appointed by three banks involved in late 1985.
In 1986, Bula took a case against the minister for energy, Tara Mines and others, seeking compensation for economic loss and breach of contract, among other things.
Wymes was adjudicated bankrupt in March 2018 on foot of a legal costs debt of €4.8m arising from the extensive litigation
A record-breaking 277-day hearing followed, culminating in a rejection of Bula’s claim by Mr Justice Kevin Lynch who described Bula as “a bottomless pit of debt and misery”. Nevertheless, cases involving Bula kept the courts busy for decades to come. The land, which was never mined by Bula, was eventually sold by the receiver to Tara Mines, in 2002.
Wymes was adjudicated bankrupt in March 2018 on foot of a legal costs debt of €4.8 million arising from the extensive litigation. He later went to the High Court to dispute the validity of the adjudication but the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court all dismissed the case.
Hearing a case related to the bankruptcy in July 2021, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys observed that Bula was “cradled in litigation” and said a search of the High Court website showed Wymes was a party in 45 sets of proceedings, a plaintiff in 22 and a defendant in 23.
In legal and business circles, Wymes was described as a very driven, fearless and stubborn man who was not intimidated by judges or barristers. He was seen as a man who passionately believed he had been wronged and was determined to receive justice.
While he was in the throes of the Bula litigation, he didn’t outwardly dwell on the emotional toll it was taking on him but as he got older, he spoke of the distress it had caused. His family say he bore it better than expected and kept his sense of humour, strength of conviction and determination right to the end.
In a eulogy prepared by his family, mourners at his funeral were told that the court battle had become his legacy of sorts “and while we don’t think he enjoyed this badge, he wore it with dignity”.
Michael and Eleanor had six children and in the mid-1970s they bought Bective House in Co Meath. The 180-acre estate was an idyllic place to raise a family and he loved the country life, stocking the estate with pheasants and taking great pride in his herd of Charolais cattle. He often used his veterinary skills in the middle of the night if a cow was having difficulty calving. His financial woes eventually forced the sale of the estate in 2006 and they moved to Booterstown, Dublin.
He was, without doubt, one of life’s characters. He made his mark on this life and we will miss him greatly
— Wymes family
He loved to fish, mainly salmon, and was a familiar face around the fisheries in Mayo and Galway. In his earlier years, he was gregarious and larger than life with a distinctive laugh that was infectious. He became quieter and more private in later life, but he was still a charismatic and entertaining companion and relished the telling of a good story. He derived great joy from his grandchildren and was very family-orientated. Those close to him say his tenacity came from a burning desire to provide for his family.
“He wasn’t perfect, as who is?” his family said in the eulogy. “But he was, without doubt, one of life’s characters. He made his mark on this life and we will miss him greatly.”
It was his wish to have a small family funeral in St Andrew’s Church on Westland Row where his parents were married and where he was baptised. He was buried in Killanny, Carrickmacross, where his parents were also laid to rest.
Michael Wymes is survived by his wife Eleanor, his children Mike, Patrick, Kathleen, Paul, Anna and Fiona, his nine grandchildren and his sister Dr Mary Randles.