The High Court granted judgment to Allied Irish Banks plc and AIB Mortgage Bank in two related loan cases against Aidan Farrell, ruling that the defence advanced in the first case had no fair or reasonable prospect of success and that the mortgage bank was entitled to judgment in the second.
In the first case, AIB sought summary judgment for €2,536,546.79, plus interest. The dispute centred on a €400,000 capital reduction due by 1 September 2013 under a 2011 loan agreement. AIB said Farrell had not paid it and had breached other terms, including stopping the agreed monthly payments and failing to meet demands for repayment.
Farrell argued that AIB representatives had agreed at a June 2013 meeting with his financial adviser, Marie Barr, that the €400,000 would be paid from proceeds of selling properties in Donegal, with payment deferred until those sales. Barr’s affidavit described the proposed sales and her understanding of the meeting. AIB disputed that any deferral or forbearance had been agreed, relying on its representative’s affidavit, a file note and later correspondence.
Justice Ryan held that Barr’s evidence did not establish an agreement to defer payment: she did not say AIB’s representatives had agreed to a deferral, or specify its terms or duration. The judge also considered the absence of a contemporaneous written claim of such an agreement and the later correspondence inconsistent with the proposed defence. Applying the summary-judgment test, the court concluded Farrell had not shown a fair or reasonable probability of a real defence. It ordered judgment for AIB in the first case.
In the related case, AIB Mortgage Bank sought judgment on a Donegal mortgage facility originally offered in 2006. Farrell argued that default on other loans could not trigger a default under that facility. The court considered the mortgage terms, which defined the secured “total debt” to include amounts payable under loans or credits and included specified events of default. It found Farrell was in default of his mortgage obligations and the 2011 payment undertaking, including through the crossover liability provisions. The court also ordered judgment for AIB Mortgage Bank.
The judgment does not state the amount awarded in the second case or set out a separate final order specifying the sums in either case.