The High Court has ordered Brian, Kenneth and Maurice McDonagh to obtain leave before starting new proceedings against Ulster Bank Ireland DAC and other named parties concerning specified loan and property matters. The restriction does not apply to proceedings already under way, including the pending Fane case and any appeals.
Mr Justice Michael Quinn made the order on 30 January 2024 in proceedings brought by Ulster Bank, receivers Paul McCann and Patrick Dillon. The Bank sought an order under the court’s inherent jurisdiction, commonly called an Isaac Wunder order, after a series of disputes involving the McDonaghs, the Bank and related parties.
The order is limited to new proceedings concerning the matters listed in the Bank’s application. These include the €21.5 million facility advanced in 2007, the Kilpeddar lands in Co Wicklow, the 2013 Compromise Agreement, the receivers’ appointment, the Bank’s recovery of the debt and specified properties. The judge removed wording that would have extended the restriction beyond those listed matters.
The judge said earlier judgments had conclusively determined the Bank’s entitlement to recover the debt and enforce its security. The High Court had entered judgment for €22,947,202 in 2020, and the Court of Appeal dismissed the McDonaghs’ appeal in 2022, subject to a €3 million credit for the Kilpeddar sale. The High Court also dismissed the McDonaghs’ claim against CBRE as time-barred; the Court of Appeal upheld that decision in January 2024.
The Bank relied on correspondence and an affidavit from Maurice McDonagh indicating an intention to revisit issues already decided. The brothers had also alleged fraud involving the Bank and its solicitors. The judge noted that the nature of those allegations was not set out in detail in the material before him. He said the restriction was justified chiefly by the public interest in preventing court resources being used to rehear matters already determined.
The judge expressly left the merits of the Fane proceedings undecided. That case concerns the 2021 sale of the Kilpeddar lands to Fane Investments and an agreement under which the Bank may receive part of future profits. The judge said nothing in this ruling prejudged that trial or the parties’ arguments there.
The order does not itself decide any new claim. It requires the McDonaghs to seek leave before bringing a new case about the specified subjects. It also leaves them able to pursue existing proceedings and appeals; any attempt to re-enter an existing case would require an application on notice, with good reason shown.