The High Court granted Allied Irish Banks plc judgment for €751,890.71 against Michael Doyle after finding he had disclosed no bona fide defence to the bank’s claims on two loans.
Mr Justice O’Connor delivered the judgment on 1 June 2017, following a two-day hearing in Cork on 14 and 22 March. The application was for summary judgment, and the court decided that the claims did not need to proceed to a plenary hearing.
The defendant relied on two proposed defences: that he could invoke consumer protections under the Consumer Credit Act 1995 and European rules on unfair contract terms; and that the bank had unlawfully interfered with his economic interests by inducing Glen of Downes Golf Club plc to breach lease obligations. The judge said it was unnecessary to resolve competing interpretations of “consumer” in earlier judgments because the facts did not support the proposed defences.
The first loan was made in September 2009 for €45,000. Its stated purpose was to fund the restructuring of a current account. Repayments stopped on 3 January 2013, and the balance was €25,887 by 11 April 2016. The defendant argued that he was a consumer and that he had not been given a copy of the agreement. The judge found no issue requiring a trial on that point, noting that the defendant knew and complied with the loan’s terms for several years.
The second loan originated in December 2002 to fund the purchase of a property at 27 Meadowvale in Boyle. It was restructured before a final agreement in July 2011. The defendant argued that he had not received a required cooling-off period. The judge found insufficient evidence that the defendant acted as a consumer in relation to the loan, and noted bank evidence listing seven other buy-to-let investments. The judgment also referred to a 2016 letter from the defendant’s accountants acknowledging the debt. The judge found no bona fide defence to the second-loan claim.
The court also rejected the proposed claim that the bank had an obligation to keep the golf club company funded, or that a claim concerning the company could be set off against the acknowledged loans. A separate 2017 proceeding brought by the defendant was not determined in this judgment. Nor did the judgment decide an interlocutory injunction application involving Ennis Property Finance DAC, whose refusal the defendant had appealed.
The court’s order was judgment for the plaintiff for €751,890.71.