The High Court has temporarily blocked the sale of a Pearse Street property in Mullingar which has housed the same family’s drapery business for about 120 years.
John Foy obtained an interlocutory injunction restraining receiver David O’Connor and BCM Global ASI Limited from marketing, advertising or selling 10-12 Pearse Street pending further order of the court.
Foy owns the property and Seven Acres Ltd, which operates the drapery business there and rents three residential units above the shop. BCM appointed O’Connor as receiver in November 2022.
The dispute arises from a Bank of Ireland loan restructured in 2014 and secured over the Pearse Street property. Bank of Ireland later sold the loan and security to BCM in December 2019.
A separate Mullingar investment property at Parkcourt, Austin Friars Street, had been placed in receivership and was sold in January 2021 for €600,000. Foy alleges that rental income and parts of the sale proceeds were not properly credited to his loan account.
BCM’s account stated that €507,612.17 remained outstanding, while its solicitors demanded €652,923 to redeem the mortgage. Foy had proposed €287,000. The court found significant unexplained differences, including an additional €145,310.83 described as receivership and legal costs.
Ms Justice Nessa Cahill said Foy had established serious issues to be tried over the accounting for rent, sale proceeds and the redemption figure. She found there was no proper account before the court explaining important deductions and remittances.
The judge did not find that Foy had established a serious issue against these defendants concerning the alleged sale of Parkcourt at an undervalue, as KPMG had managed that sale and was not a party.
In granting the injunction, Cahill J. placed weight on the Pearse Street property’s inter-generational family connection. She said its loss could not be treated as purely financial.
The order includes liberty to apply, meaning the defendants may return to court if circumstances change, including if detailed accounts are supplied and the mortgage remains unredeemed.