The High Court has entered summary judgment for €1,249,366.16 against architect Michael Barker in a case brought by National Asset Loan Management Ltd over a loan connected to a pub and adjoining land in Co Clare.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton delivered the judgment on 10 April 2014. The case was brought under the summary judgment procedure, which allows a court to decide a debt claim on affidavit evidence where the defendant has not disclosed an arguable defence. The judge said a defendant need not show that a defence would probably succeed, but must identify factual material that could answer the claim.
The loan originated with Allied Irish Banks plc and was later transferred to the plaintiff after it ran into difficulties. A facility letter dated 4 July 2008 offered a €30,000 overdraft and a €957,000 loan to continue an existing facility for the purchase of The Angler’s Rest Pub and an adjoining 3.5-acre site at Clonlara, Co Clare. The letter provided for a review by 13 December 2008 and required interest to be paid as it fell due.
In his affidavit, Mr Barker said he had not received the bank’s general terms and conditions. He also said the facilities funded development of the land, with capital repayment due only after the pub was sold, and that the bank shared in the venture’s fortunes. He relied on a 2009 bank memo referring to the pub’s prospects and a possible new tenant.
The judge found the facility letter expressly referred to the general terms and conditions and said the later memo did not establish a defence to the written loan agreement. He also said the claim that the bank was a business partner was unsupported by details of conversations or written records. The court accepted the plaintiff’s evidence that interest and principal repayments had been missed and that a repayment demand was properly made on 4 September 2013.
The court entered judgment for the full amount claimed against Mr Barker. The judgment concerns the claim against him; the source does not state an outcome for the other named defendants.