THE COURT PROCEEDINGS surrounding the liquidation of scandal-hit suicide charity Console have been deferred by three months.
The sheer volume of work involved in scanning and cataloguing all records and files of the charity by the Officer of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) means that the liquidator cannot access those documents at present, the High Court heard today.
Justice Paul Gilligan heard from Ian Drennan, representing the ODCE, that a firm date could not be placed on when that process would be finished.
“Does the ODCE recognise that this is a matter of some urgency, in the court’s opinion?” Justice Gilligan asked.
“It does, and we will do our absolute utmost to have the documents ready for this time next week,” Drennan replied.
P45
Counsel for Console Keith Farry assured the court that there is no suggestion that the delay is a reflection on the ODCE.
Farry likewise said that all services of Console have now moved fully to suicide charity Pieta House, with no disruption to the services being provided.
Drennan meanwhile said that the computer needed to generate a P45 for Paul Kelly (this had been previously requested so that Kelly might register for social welfare benefits) had been provided to the liquidator.
The current term of the High Court ends tomorrow, 29 July.
The court likewise heard that the provisional liquidator of Console Tom Murray, who was today appointed the full liquidator of the charity by Justice Gilligan, has been unable to determine as of yet who the directors of the charity are.
Justice Gilligan ordered that Paul Kelly, the former CEO of Console, his wife Patricia, and three other named directors – Gerard Tiernan, Ursula Mulkerrins, and Angela McGovern – must submit a statement of their affairs by 21 September.
“Complicated situation”
Counsel for the provisional liquidator Stephen Brady mentioned that a meeting between the liquidator and Paul and Patricia Kelly yesterday was “not sufficient to address all the liquidator’s questions”.
Justice Gilligan acknowledged that “we are dealing with a complicated situation where all the relevant papers are with the ODCE”.
We will proceed on the understanding that all those papers will be catalogued and scanned and made available within the next 14 days.
The judge put the matter back until the new court term on Thursday, 13 October, when all current applications are expected to be heard.
In deferring the case, the application by Paul and Patricia Kelly to gain access to a savings account containing €6,700, funds which they have been compelled to prove are theirs and not that of Console, was also put back.
The various orders made by Justice Gilligan freezing the assets of Console and of Paul, Patricia, and Tim Kelly, will likewise be extended until the next hearing date.
Both Paul and Patricia Kelly’s son Tim, who is also named on orders regarding the freezing of all Console’s assets, and named director Joan Burke McKenna (who claims she was never a director of the charity) were represented by Counsel in court. However, nothing was said by either party.
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