The High Court has rejected Sean Dunne’s challenge to the appointments of officials involved in Ireland’s bankruptcy system, finding that the former Official Assignees who dealt with his estate and the director of the Insolvency Service of Ireland were lawfully appointed.
Mr Dunne, who was adjudicated bankrupt in 2013, brought proceedings with members of his family challenging the appointments of Christopher Lehane and Michael Ian Larkin as Official Assignees and Michael McNaughton as director of the Insolvency Service of Ireland.
He argued that required appointment documents were missing and that statutory and constitutional procedures had not been followed. Among other things, he claimed formal warrants, ministerial approvals, competitions, oaths and publication requirements were necessary.
Mr Justice Nolan rejected those claims following a modular trial confined to the validity of the appointments.
The court found that Mr Lehane had been validly appointed within the Courts Service framework then in force. It held that his appointment did not require the additional competition, warrant or transfer documents alleged by Dunne.
The court also found that Mr Larkin was lawfully appointed after a Public Appointments Service competition and became a civil servant under a Department of Justice contract containing a probationary period. No separate ministerial warrant, seal or transfer deed was legally required.
Mr McNaughton was likewise found to have been properly appointed as director of the Insolvency Service following a public competition and recommendation process. The judge held that Department officials could lawfully perform ministerial administrative functions under the established Carltona principle, which allows appropriate officials to act in the minister’s name.
The ruling does not determine every other claim or relief pleaded in the wider litigation. It settles the modular issue by finding that the three appointments were valid. The case was listed for final orders on 4 June 2026.