The High Court refused a request to adjourn a bankruptcy petition and adjudicated Brendan O’Rourke bankrupt on 26 July 2021, while an appeal over the underlying costs order remained pending.
Humphreys J. issued the reasons on 30 September 2021. The judgment says the petition arose from costs ordered in separate proceedings brought by O’Rourke against the creditor in 2016. Those proceedings were dismissed by O’Hanlon J. on 5 December 2018, with O’Rourke required to pay costs, including an interim payment of €255,040 to the second, third and fourth defendants.
O’Rourke appealed that order. In January 2019, Irvine J. refused his application to stay the costs order, allowing enforcement steps to proceed in the High Court despite the appeal. A bankruptcy summons was issued in October 2020, followed by a petition seeking an adjudication in bankruptcy.
The petition was due to be heard on 17 May 2021, but Sanfey J. granted O’Rourke a protective certificate that morning. The petition was adjourned until after the certificate expired. On 26 July, O’Rourke sought another adjournment pending the Court of Appeal’s decision in the costs case, which had been heard and was expected by Michaelmas 2021.
Humphreys J. refused the request. He said delaying the petition was inconsistent with the Court of Appeal’s earlier refusal to stay enforcement and that, in bankruptcy proceedings, the risk of assets being dissipated could cause irremediable prejudice. He said an adjudication’s effects could be remedied by returning money if appropriate, and that preserving assets depended on the bankruptcy process continuing.
The debtor’s opposition also raised an alleged ulterior motive, disputed the debt and its amount, asserted that no more than €20,000 was owed, and referred to the pending appeal and engagement with a personal insolvency practitioner. The judge rejected those points as sufficient to prevent adjudication at that stage, noting that the High Court costs order had formalised the debt’s amount. The judgment records that O’Rourke did not oppose adjudication subject to his request for an adjournment.
The court’s order refused the adjournment and adjudicated O’Rourke bankrupt. The judgment says he had since appealed that adjudication order. It does not decide the pending appeal of the underlying costs order.