Nama sole recipient of Durkan's €31.2m

STATE AGENCY Nama was confirmed as the sole beneficiary of the €31.2 million compensation award made by the High Court to builders Durkan New Homes this week.

The High Court this week ordered the State to pay €31.2 million plus special damages to the firm as a result of a 2006 property deal that failed to go through.

At a follow-up hearing yesterday, the company confirmed that Nama will get the entire sum. Nama acquired a loan relating to the deal and a number of the company’s other bank debts, and Durkan New Homes’s lawyers told the court the cash would be used to pay down those liabilities.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton gave the State 21 days to consider an appeal and put a four-month stay on payment of the €31.2 million.

The original special damages, set at €967,000, were reduced to €562,539 and the State was also ordered to pay €782,491 in interest. The case centred on Harcourt Terrace Garda station in Dublin. In 2006, the State agreed to transfer the property to Durkan New Homes in return for the company selling 215 houses and apartments through the Government’s Affordable Homes Partnership.

However, problems prevented the transfer of the Garda Station to Durkan New Homes, which subsequently sued the State.