High Court upholds misconduct finding against Declan O’Callaghan over conflict of interest

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The High Court upheld a disciplinary tribunal’s finding of professional misconduct against suspended solicitor Declan O’Callaghan over a conflict of interest in a 2006 Mayo land transfer. The proceedings were reported on 14 November 2025. Mr Justice Micheál O’Higgins allowed his appeal against three other misconduct complaints.

The complaints were made in 2010 by Nirvanna Property Holdings Ltd, run by businessman Tom Fleming. The tribunal recommended that O’Callaghan be struck off the roll of solicitors, but that recommendation was put on hold pending the appeal. O’Callaghan has been suspended since 2018 over a separate Law Society investigation into matters at his practice.

O’Callaghan accepted that his firm acted for both sides in the transfer but denied any impropriety. He submitted that the transfer met security requirements for a Bank of Ireland loan to Western Concrete, a joint venture between Fleming and the purchaser, Fred Preston. O’Callaghan said the €250,000 figure was a land valuation and there was no question of it being paid to Nirvanna.

The judge allowed the appeal against the claim that Nirvanna was owed €250,000, saying it had not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt that both parties envisaged the company receiving that sum. He also allowed the appeal on complaints concerning O’Callaghan’s continued representation of the purchaser and the adequacy of his services.

Mr Justice O’Higgins said he was deeply unimpressed that O’Callaghan had not advised Nirvanna and Fleming to obtain independent legal advice, but was not minded to conclude that he was guilty of dishonesty. He said he would hear submissions from the Law Society in the new year on costs and the appropriate sanction.