A daughter of property investor and solicitor Brian O'Donnell has appealed orders granted by the High Court to Bank of Ireland ordering her to grant the lender entry to the family home in Killiney, Co Dublin, or else face imprisonment.
Lawyers for Blaise O'Donnell appealed to the Supreme Court an in-camera order granted last Friday in an ex parte (only one side represented) application by the bank that permitted the bank to demand entry to Gorse Hill on Vico Road.
Solicitors for the bank entered the home last Monday to catalogue the contents of the property. Ross Maguire SC, counsel for Ms O'Donnell, told the Supreme Court the orders were made "in secret" and required her to give access to her dwelling or else face imprisonment.
This raised matters of "profound constitutional importance" in relation to justice being administered in public and the inviolability of a citizen's rights to their home, he told the court.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the matter at the earliest possible opportunity and adjourned the proceedings until May 24th, at which time it will fix a date for hearing.
Later, in the commercial division of the High Court, Mr O'Donnell, his wife and children agreed not to dissipate, hide or destroy any of the contents of Gorse Hill.
The family consented to court orders sought by the bank restraining them from dissipating any artwork, paintings, pictures, crystal and glassware, rugs and curtains, antiques, sculptures, ornaments, jewellery and electronic appliances and equipment. They also agreed not to hide or destroy the same contents.
The bank sought the orders pending the outcome of legal proceedings against Mr O'Donnell and his wife in relation to a dispute about the ownership of the property among other matters.
The Gorse Hill home of corporate lawyer Brian O'Donnell on Vico Road in Killiney, Co Dublin
Blaise O'Donnell, who was represented in court by Mr Maguire, gave an undertaking to the same effect as the court orders on her parents and siblings.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly adjourned the bank's proceedings until May 21st.
The bank is owed €75 million by Mr O'Donnell and his wife, Mary Pat, over loans and guarantees on loans advanced for investments and the refinancing of other loans. Last Monday, the bank issued fresh legal proceedings arising from its long-running dispute with the O'Donnells.
The action was taken against the couple's four children - Blake, Bruce, Blaise and Alex; Mr Brian and Mrs Mary Patricia O'Donnell; Vico Limited, the company behind the Gorse Hill property; Chancery Trustees Limited; and Vico Barton Limited.
Paul Gardiner SC, counsel for the bank, told the court there was a dispute between the parties over the ownership and contents of the Gorse Hill property. Various statements of affairs submitted by the O'Donnells in recent years had provided differing values for the couple's art collection, he said.
The collection was valued at €7.5 million by accountants Deloitte and later at €5 million by Mr O'Donnell's brother-in-law, an accountant, in three statements of affairs. The collection was excluded from a subsequent statement of affairs that detailed only property assets, but it was described as "substantial".
Mr O'Donnell and his wife are the subject of ongoing proceedings taken by the bank over debts of €75 million. The bank believes that the couple own a valuable art collection.
In his cross-examination by the bank in court last month, Mr O'Donnell said a €5 million valuation put on art in a 2006 statement of affairs was incorrect while the €7.5 million valuation on art and antiques in the 2006 statement was "ludicrous".
He told the court last month that while he and his wife collected pictures "like everyone else" over many years, they were not terribly valuable and anything in their Killiney home was owned by the children's trust, which also owned the property.
Solicitors for the bank, Dublin law firm Arthur Cox, called to the family's home last Monday to catalogue the contents of the property on the back of the court order obtained last Friday.
A former managing partner of Dublin law firm William Fry, Mr O'Donnell has been examined by the bank over what Mr Justice Kelly described as "alarming" discrepancies in statements of assets he has submitted.
The couple filed for bankruptcy in the United Kingdom in March after the bank rejected a proposed settlement arrangement under English bankruptcy law. The bank has said that it may contest their bankruptcy application and seek to have them declared bankrupt in the Republic instead.
