The High Court has ruled that three Mars Capital witnesses must be available for cross-examination in proceedings seeking judgment for more than €3 million against Sean and Veronica Farrell.
Mars Capital Finance Ireland DAC had asked the court for special permission to rely on its affidavits without producing the deponents for questioning. The company argued that the dispute could be decided largely from the loan documents and that the Farrells had not identified factual conflicts requiring cross-examination.
The proceedings began in January 2017. Mars Capital’s predecessor claimed that a €2.2 million facility had been advanced under a March 2007 loan offer and that €3,010,421.01 remained due by February 2017. By February 2020, Mars Capital said the debt had risen to €3,532,810.71.
Sean Farrell, who has since died, disputed aspects of the lender’s evidence in a series of affidavits. Among other matters, he questioned the chain of title, discrepancies between transfer documentation used in these proceedings and separate Circuit Court proceedings, which loan Mars Capital had actually acquired, and the completeness of the account and interest records.
Mr Justice Micheál O’Higgins said some of the defendants’ objections could ultimately be dealt with through legal argument. However, he found that potentially legitimate factual questions also arose over loan documentation, interest calculations, the identity of the transferred loan and the authenticity of certain exhibits.
The judge also noted that Mars Capital had filed numerous affidavits in proceedings brought by summary summons and that the case had been running for about eight years, features which did not immediately suggest a straightforward claim.
The court nevertheless rejected the defendants’ attempt to cross-examine every plaintiff witness as excessive.
Mars Capital was refused special leave in respect of affidavits from John Hackett, Anthony Noonan and Joe Carter. Special leave was granted for affidavits from solicitor Hannah Brady and Stephen McKeever. Final orders and costs were left for further argument.