The High Court has ordered Marble and Granite Tiles Limited to be wound up after finding it unable to pay €43,115.30 owed to Dublin City Council. The order followed the company’s failure to pay within three weeks of a written demand served on 14 May 2009.
The council’s petition, presented on 6 July, claimed the debt arose from costs awarded in earlier High Court and Circuit Court proceedings under the Planning and Development Act 2000. The court said the company was deemed unable to pay its debts under section 214(a) of the Companies Act 1963 because it did not meet the demand.
Director Noel O’Gara argued that the company should not be wound up. He said an appeal concerning the High Court costs was pending, but the judge found there was no stay on that order. The Circuit Court costs alone also exceeded the statutory threshold for deemed insolvency.
O’Gara claimed the council owed money connected with costs for a compulsory purchase order involving Dartmouth Square, and acquisitions at 4 Hewardine Terrace and 34 Dolphin’s Barn Street. The judge found he had not established that the council owed the company money for the Dartmouth Square costs. The Hewardine Terrace premises had been vested in O’Gara personally, while the Dolphin’s Barn Street premises had been vested in Ballinahowen Developments Limited. Any sums due for those acquisitions were therefore not debts owed to Marble and Granite Tiles Limited.
O’Gara also offered a €50,000 promissory note, conditional on his receiving compensation for the Hewardine Terrace acquisition. The judge said the condition made the promise indefinite and it did not alter the company’s insolvent status at the time.
The court appointed Jim Hamilton as liquidator and directed the company’s two directors, Noel O’Gara and Naramon O’Gara, to swear and file a statement of affairs within 21 days. The council’s costs were reserved to the Examiner’s Court List.
The council also sought to strike out O’Gara’s affidavit of 21 September 2009. The judge struck two paragraphs referring to the council’s Executive Manager, Declan Wallace, but allowed the rest to stand. The judge said the court’s power under Order 40, rule 12 was limited to striking scandalous matter.
The judge ruled that O’Gara was not legally entitled to represent the company, though he had been heard to ensure no injustice was done. The court also directed that the title of the proceedings be amended to conform with the prescribed form.