The High Court allowed an appeal by John and Margaret Hurley and set aside a Circuit Court order requiring them to pay Quigley Meats Limited €28,675.86 for meat supplied to a bar and restaurant in Ring, Dungarvan, County Waterford. The court held that the debt was owed by The Seanachie Cottages Limited, not by the Hurleys personally.
The appeal was heard by way of a rehearing. The Hurleys did not dispute that the amount was due, but argued that the company, which had gone into liquidation, was liable. The dispute was whether the supplier should have understood that it was dealing with the company rather than the two individuals.
The judgment records that Margaret Hurley managed the business day to day and dealt with the supplier about the account. The supplier’s account named “Seanachie Bar & Restaurant”, rather than either Hurley. Payments were generally made by cheques drawn on the company’s bank account, with the company name printed above Margaret Hurley’s signature.
Quigley Meats’ representative said he believed he was dealing with the Hurleys personally and first learned of the company when he saw a winding-up notice in January 2010. The court accepted evidence that the supplier’s solicitor had pursued the company after discovering it, but said that decision alone did not acknowledge that the company owed the debt.
The judge also considered a document titled “Personal Guarantee” sent to Margaret Hurley in February 2009. It described her as the debtor and set out a payment arrangement. The court found it was not a standard guarantee of a company debt and was not determinative of who owed the account.
Other evidence included a short-term letting agreement under which John Hurley let the premises to the company, and public company records listing real estate development and sales as its principal objects. The judge said those records had not been consulted until after the debt arose. The court also found that the company-name cheques were enough to alert the supplier that the restaurant was being operated through a limited liability company, giving it the option to seek personal guarantees or stop supplying it.
The High Court therefore allowed the appeal and set aside the Circuit Court order made on 2 February 2011. It concluded that neither Hurley had personal liability for the amount. The judgment does not make a separate order requiring the company to pay.