THE PROPERTY DEVELOPER Sean Dunne could now be declared bankrupt in Ireland in addition to the United States, where he is currently based, following a ruling by a court in Connecticut.
Bankruptcy judge Alan Shiff has granted a motion sought by one of Dunne’s main creditors Ulster Bank – and supported by the National Asset Management Agency – for bankruptcy proceedings to be brought in Ireland in addition to the US.
RTÉ News reports that having sided with the bank, a hearing will now take place in an Irish Court on 1 July to allow bankruptcy proceedings to be served on Dunne before negotiations between US and Irish authorities.
Carlow-native Dunne had sought bankruptcy in the US in March where the regime is less severe than in Ireland but the bank – to which he owes some €164 million – argued that most of Dunne’s debt is owed to Irish creditors.
In bankruptcy filings made in May, Dunne revealed liabilities of €718 million and assets of €42 million with his main creditors being Ulster Bank, NAMA, Certus – a company handling Bank of Scotland’s portfolio in Ireland – and O’Flynn Construction in Cork.
The bankruptcy filings revealed that Dunne has an average monthly income of €17,000 per month, €6,352 of which comes from Mountbrook USA, a company owned by his wife Gayle Killilea, where he works as a project manager.
Dunne hit headlines during the property boom when he oversaw the purchase of the Jury’s Doyle hotel site in Ballsbridge in Dublin 4 for some €379 million, an unprecedented amount for the seven acre site.
Attempts to redevelop site failed with An Bord Pleanála refusing planning permission for a 37-storey tower at the site in 2009 and as the property crash took hold of the country the site’s value decreased significantly.
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