The High Court has granted the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland judgment against Kieran Doyle for €7,437,348.47, after rejecting his arguments that the bank’s claim should proceed to a plenary hearing.
In a judgment delivered on 10 July 2018, Mr Justice Meenan considered the bank’s motion for judgment in respect of money advanced under a facility letter dated 23 December 2010. Doyle did not dispute that the money was due, but argued that two issues gave him an arguable defence.
The loan had been advanced to Doyle and other borrowers to fund a proposed development at Greenhills, Drogheda, and facilitate the restructuring of an earlier loan. The borrowers had also entered a joint venture agreement in 2007 relating to the Greenhills site and other sites.
Doyle argued that a debt resolution agreement made in February 2017 between the bank and the other borrowers amounted to a release or accord under section 17 of the Civil Liability Act 1961. The agreement followed letters of demand and provided that, subject to conditions and the sale of certain properties, the bank would forbear from pursuing those borrowers for the outstanding loan. Doyle was not a party to that agreement. The judgment said proceeds from property sales were credited against the debt, to his benefit.
The court rejected the section 17 argument, relying on the agreement’s terms reserving the bank’s rights and remedies under the finance documents. It also noted a clause allowing the bank to plead the agreement as an absolute bar to a defaulting borrower’s defence in proceedings concerning the agreement or finance documents.
Doyle’s second argument was that the other borrowers breached the joint venture agreement by entering the debt resolution agreement, and that the bank induced that breach. Justice Meenan found no breach. He cited provisions stating that co-owners’ liabilities connected with the joint venture were several rather than joint and that they were to indemnify one another against claims arising from the agreement. The judgment said the other borrowers had to indemnify Doyle under those provisions.
The court concluded that Doyle had not established a defence requiring the case to be sent to a plenary hearing. It therefore entered judgment for the bank against him. The judgment’s opening paragraph describes the motion as seeking €7,473,348.47, while its final order grants €7,437,348.47.