BRIAN O’DONNELL’S LEGAL battle for Gorse Hill in Killiney continued this afternoon as the solicitor began his appeal against a High Court ruling last week that required him and his wife to leave their home.
The court had granted a trespass injunction to Bank of Ireland as O’Donnell owes it over €70 million. However, the couple remain at their house for the duration of the appeal.
Brian O’Donnell said he and his wife have ‘a contractual right of residence’ at Gorse Hill since 2000 based on an agreement with Vico Ltd. He said they lived there until 2011, when they moved to the UK.
He added that the shareholders of Vico Ltd are his four children.
I don’t have any shareholdings.
O’Donnell was representing himself at the Court of Appeal and his wife was not present at the start of the case. However, Judge Finlay-Geoghegan told O’Donnell that his wife Mary Patricia must be present in court for the appeal.
When she appeared, Mary Patricia O’Donnell was asked if she was aware of the consequences if the appeal fails. She said she was.
Cian Ferriter SC for Bank of Ireland said there were ‘distortions of the truth’ in Brian O’Donnell’s affidavit.
Last week, he argued that legal documents from 2011 show O’Donnell had signed the house up as security against his debts.
They unequivocally signed up to an agreement that they would vacate they property in the event that the bank exercised its security.
O’Donnell claimed he was ‘smeared and castigated’ in this case. He said he has been called ‘Walter Mitty, a fantasist and an idiot.’
He also told the court that his dealings were with Bank of Ireland Private Banking – a separate entity from Bank of Ireland.
Speaking about the media coverage of the case he stated, “The eviction notice was hammered to the front gate in front of the world’s media.” He said there were three satellite trucks and 64 reporters outside the property at the time.
He also said that he and his wife were not barricaded inside Gorse Hill and that friends and family could come and go.
The idea that there were tanks on the lawn is not true.
He has been at the centre of a long-running battle for the right to stay in the Gorse Hill mansion in Killiney, south Dublin.
Gerry Beades from the New Land League was present in court but did not sit beside O’Donnell.
The Court of Appeal heard that the appeal must finish tomorrow.
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