THE €1.5m family home of a former hotelier and Limerick businessman is to be sold in a bid to settle an outstanding debt with Bank of Ireland mortgages, a court has been told.
The North Circular Road residence of the Dunne family, Shamrockville, had been the subject of a protracted legal battle between Brendan and Hilda Dunne in connection with a €1.7m loan drawn against the property.
Battling illness and a dramatic downturn in the economy in 2009, Mr Dunne and his wife faced a court battle to hold on to their home.
Upwards of a dozen court appearances in connection with the case came to an end last week when counsel for the bank and the Dunne family told Judge Tom O’Donnell that a settlement in principle had been reached. The terms of which were nt disclosed to the court save for Judge O’Donnell being told that the property at the centre of the legal row was in the process of being sold.
Shamrockville was valued at more than €4.5million at the height of the property boom but it was returned to the market recently at a guide price in the region of €1.5m.
Late last year, Pat Barriscale, counsel for Mr and Mrs Dunne said that an interested party had sought to purchase the period residence and that the money raised from the sale would discharge a large portion of their debt.
Counsel for the lenders said that the deal was rejected by Bank of Ireland Mortgages as they had taken legal proceedings against the former hotelier and his wife over the €1.7 million loan.
The five bedroom detatched house on a 1.3 acre site was mortgaged against the debt and Bank of Ireland have been seeking an order from the Circuit Court to take possession of the home for almost two years.
Mr Dunne, who successfully owned and operated six of hotels and up to 20 other properties throughout the Mid West, fell into financial difficulty in 2009 when he was diagnosed with a rare debilitating disease that has confined him to a wheelchair.
The 69-year-old businessman was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome in 2006 and spent 16 months in hospital that has left him with very limited mobility.
Mr Barriscale previously argued to the court that an ongoing resort development in the Cape Verde islands would help pay off the bank and had sought time to allow this come to fruition.
The development was delayed by litigation in both Cape Verde and the Irish High Court but both actions have since been resolved.
However, the court heard that while work on the foreign development had resumed, an alternative agreement to sell the North Circular Road had been reached between the parties in a bid to pay off the debt.
Judge O’Donnell said that he was happy to hear that an agreement had been reached and adjourned the matter for three months to allow the house sale conclude.
