BoI seeking bankruptcy of two McFeely relatives

The Bank of Ireland is seeking to have two relatives of property developer Tom McFeely made bankrupt in Northern Ireland.

The move comes just months after Mr McFeely, the developer behind the Priory Hall complex in Dublin, was blocked from emerging from bankruptcy by the Irish Courts.

Having failed in an attempt to be made bankrupt in the UK in 2012, Mr McFeely was made a bankrupt in the Republic. When he was due to emerge from bankruptcy in July, the official assignee, Chris Lehane, asked that the period be extended for another five years, on the grounds Mr McFeely had failed to disclose all his assets. The businessman is appealing the extension.

Now Bank of Ireland has filed bankruptcy petitions against Gerard and Conor McFeely, both with addresses in Derry. Conor (49) is a brother of Tom (66), while the relationship of Gerard (60) with the Priory Hall developer is not known. Attempts to contact the men last night were not successful.

The petitions against the two men are to be heard at the end of October by a court in Belfast. The standard period for a bankruptcy in the UK is one year.

Three McFeelys

Tom, Gerard and Conor McFeely signed bank guarantees for Bank of Ireland for £27 million in 2007 in relation to a Derry-based company called Inis Developments, which had a link with Priory Hall but was mostly involved with apartment projects in the UK.

George Maloney of Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon was subsequently appointed as a receiver to the apartments by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), to which Bank of Ireland loans had been moved.

Earlier this year, Nama secured an €8 million judgment in the High Court against Tom McFeely’s wife, Nina Lynn Kessler, otherwise known as Nina McFeely, arising out of a loan secured against the couple’s former home on Ailesbury Road, Dublin.

Following the seizure of the home by Nama and its sale, a plumber working on the house for its new owners found cash totalling €140,000 and, days later, gardaí found a further €60,000. Mr McFeely said the cash wasn’t his but the official assignee overseeing his bankruptcy said he believed the money belonged to the businessman.

Priory Hall

Mr McFeely is a former member of the IRA who took part in the 1980 hunger strikes in Northern Ireland. The Priory Hall development in Dublin, which saw more than 40 families have to leave their homes over fire safety defects, was built by Mr McFeely and fellow developer Larry O’Mahony.

Meanwhile a formerly Galway-based developer, Tom Coyle, now with an address in London, has been made a bankrupt by the courts in London following an application by Nama.

Last year, Mr Coyle (54) failed in a Supreme Court challenge against a High Court judgment for more than €60 million owed by him to Nama and, formerly, to Anglo Irish Bank. He argued unsuccessfully certain transactions by the bank in relation to his loans meant he was no longer liable for the money.

The developer is best-known for the four-star Clarion Hotel in Sligo. The hotel cost €35 million and had 74 bedrooms and 89 suites. It opened in 2005 on the site of the former St Columba’s psychiatric hospital, but was placed in receivership in 2012. Mr Coyle was involved in other projects in Sligo, including student accommodation and residential developments. Attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.