Courts / Meath / Report

Separated couple allowed write off €2.8m in debt

Summary

The High Court approved Personal Insolvency Arrangements for Bernadette and Graham Canning, a separated couple in their mid‑fifties with four children, allowing them to write off over €2.8 million of debt. The Cannings had total debts of about €3.2 million, mainly to the Bank of Ireland, after their businesses failed in the early 2000s. The arrangements, each lasting 24 months, involve selling their family home in Monknewtown to an approved housing body, with the couple renting it back. Mrs Canning will pay a €5,000 lump sum, €1,000 of which goes to unsecured creditors, and the rest covers insolvency costs. Mr Canning will contribute €18,000, with €4,000 covering PIA costs and the remainder to unsecured creditors. Six acres of forestry owned by the couple will be transferred to the Bank of Ireland and sold. The court noted that the arrangements would benefit creditors more than a bankruptcy would, and approved them without objection.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Separated couple allowed write off €2.8m in debt. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• 2023-01-23 Publication

Why: At the High Court on Monday Keith Farry BL, for the Cannings' Personal Insolvency Practitioner, said that in Mrs Canning's PIA, it was proposed that the family home be sold in order to deal with a secured debt of €390,000, with the proceeds going to BOI. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Related court reports

• Accountant accused of knife attack on wife fails to halt retrial
• 14-year term and life-long ban imposed on repeat offender who caused death of passenger (20) is upheld
• Repeat roads offender who caused death of woman (20) argues 14-year jail term 'manifestly excessive'
• Accountant claims State suppressed 'crucial crime scene evidence'
• Account seeks to halt alleged knife attack retrial, says he will seek €2bn from State
• High driver who caused death of passenger in horror crash fails to convince appeal of 'radical proposition'

Read the original CNI report