The High Court granted KBC Bank Ireland plc judgment for €1,941,068.45 against Vincent and Marcella McNamee in a dispute over a loan connected to the Wonder Years Crèche in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
Mr Justice Twomey’s judgment, delivered on 20 June 2016, awarded €1,921,983.45 plus €19,085 interest. The court was deciding whether the bank should receive summary judgment or whether the defendants had a credible defence that should proceed to a full hearing.
The bank’s sworn evidence, which the defendants did not controvert apart from their objection about access to original documents, said the loan was first advanced by IIB Bank plc in 2008 to refinance existing Bank of Ireland debt relating to the crèche and fund an extension. The initial advance was €1.8 million. The facility was later restructured, with the most recent signed facility letter dated 26 June 2013 recording a balance of €1,888,301 and monthly repayments.
The bank said the defendants defaulted around 1 February 2014. It demanded repayment of €1,902,469 in November 2015 and sent further demands in December 2015 and January 2016. A receiver had been appointed over the secured property in November 2015, but it had not been sold and had produced no proceeds towards the debt.
The defendants’ stated defence was that they had not been shown the original, “wet ink” loan documents. They also questioned the bank’s entitlement because the original business had been with IIB Bank. The bank responded that it had changed its name to KBC Bank Ireland plc in 2008, and the judge said the defendants had produced no evidence contradicting that account.
The bank offered inspection of the title documents at its offices after payment of €300 towards reasonable costs. The defendants did not take up the offer, and the judgment records that they gave no reason for declining it. The judge found that relying on not having seen the originals was not a credible defence in those circumstances. The ruling did not send the matter to a plenary hearing; the court granted judgment for the bank in the stated amount plus interest.