The High Court has adjudicated Brian O’Donnell and Mary Patricia O’Donnell bankrupt on petitions brought by the Bank of Ireland, following a judgment debt of €71,575,991.29 entered against them by consent in December 2011.
Mr Justice Charleton held that the debtors’ centre of main interests was in Ireland when the bank lodged its petitions: 1 June 2012 for Brian O’Donnell and 7 June 2012 for Mary Patricia O’Donnell. He rejected their argument that the court should assess their centre of main interests on the later hearing date.
The court considered whether the couple had established their economic centre in England after travelling there in December 2011. The judge found that their move followed shortly after the Irish judgment and that their English activities did not establish that London had become their centre of main interests by the relevant dates. He pointed to their Irish property and company interests, professional and financial connections, and the debts left in Ireland. He said the evidence did not show reasonable provision for creditors and concluded that the move was intended to avoid dealing with the Irish debts.
The judgment records that an English court had refused to open bankruptcy proceedings because the debtors’ centre of main interests was not in England. Mr Justice Charleton said that decision did not determine the Irish petitions: the relevant dates differed, and the English court had not decided that Ireland was necessarily the debtors’ centre of main interests.
The debtors also disputed service. Brian O’Donnell said he received sealed envelopes without being told what they contained; Mary Patricia O’Donnell said she had not been personally served. The bank’s solicitor gave a different account, saying Brian O’Donnell agreed to accept service for both. The judge accepted the solicitor’s evidence and deemed service good on both debtors, finding no demonstrated prejudice.
The court also rejected challenges to alleged defects in the petitions, including the bank’s estimate of its security and the stated bankruptcy act. It held that the debt was proven and that the execution against the debtors’ goods had failed to realise the full debt. Finding none of the issues in the debtors’ favour, the court ordered that both be adjudicated bankrupt. The judgment does not resolve disputed beneficial ownership of certain property interests, which the court said belonged to other proceedings.