Revenue secures €26,000 judgment against McFeely company

The Revenue recently secured a €26,000 judgment against bankrupt Priory Hall developer Tom McFeely's Coalport Building Company.

Mr McFeely, a former IRA member who spent a period on hunger strike in the Maze prison in the 1980s, was declared bankrupt by the High Court in 2012. He and Larry O'Mahony were the developers responsible for Priory Hall, a Dublin apartment complex that had to be evacuated in 2012 because it was deemed to be too dangerous for the 180 families living there.

Company documents show that on January 10th, the Revenue’s Collector General registered a judgment for €26,813 against Coalport, the McFeely-owned building business that was involved in the Priory Hall development.

The Revenue's judgment is the latest in a long line against the company. Other creditors, including the ESB, Eircom and Calor Gas, also have judgments for amounts ranging from €1,200 to €11,000, while Murdock Builders Merchants is owed €30,000.

Theresa McGuinness, who spent several years pursuing Mr McFeely in the courts and whose action ultimately resulted in him being declared bankrupt in the Republic, is due €103,618.

Last year, State assets agency Nama repossessed Mr McFeely’s former home on Ailesbury Road in Dublin, which was worth €15 million at the height of the property boom. It subsequently sold it for €3 million.

Last summer a plumber working for the property's new owner discovered €140,000 in €50 notes there. A search turned up a further €60,000. No one claimed the money, which was lodged with Chris Lehane, the official appointed by the High Court to take control of Mr McFeely's assets and liabilities.

Before 2012, the former developer twice filed for bankruptcy in England, pointing out that he was a British citizen. However, Ms McGuinness successfully opposed this.

Former Priory Hall residents last year agreed to a deal that allowed them to walk away from their apartments.

The implementation of an agreement between them and their banks is being worked out under the chairmanship of former senator Dr Martin McAleese.