Billionaire businessman John Magnier has acknowledged that he offered €50,000 in cash to the beneficial owners of the Barne Estate in Co Tipperary.
Mr Magnier, his daughter Katherine Wachmann and son John Paul Magnier are suing Richard Thomson-Moore whose family have owned the 751 acre estate outside Clonmel since the middle of the 17th century.
Mr Magnier claims that he shook hands with Mr Thomson-Moore to purchase the farm for €15 million on August 22nd last year.
Mr Magnier states he paid a €250,000 deposit for the land, lodged the full amount with his solicitors and paid for a tillage licence to plough the land on the basis that he had a “binding agreement” to purchase it.
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Mr Thomson-Moore is counterclaiming and alleging that no such sale took place and Mr Magnier is “slandering” their chances of concluding the sale of the farm to an American-based Irish businessman Maurice Regan for €22.5 million. That sale to Mr Regan has been agreed pending the outcome of the court case.
In their reply and defence to counterclaim, Mr Magnier states that after the meeting of August 22nd, he had heard Mr Thomson-Moore and his sister Alexandra were “strapped for cash” and he agreed to give them €25,000 each in two envelopes.
The money was personally delivered by Mr Magnier and his son, John Paul, on September 7th last year.
They allege that the pair and the auctioneer, John Stokes, met Mr Thomson-Moore and his wife Anna outside of the house and that the money was handed over then.
Mr Magnier states that he was told by the auctioneer that Mr Regan had been making “abusive and threatening calls” to Mr Stokes and pressure was being put on the auctioneer and Mr Thomson-Moore not to honour the deal.
In response Mr Regan has stated he is not a party to court proceedings. “The matter is before the Commercial Court at present and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” he stated.
Mr Magnier agreed to give them the cash and also set up a trust worth €500,000 for the Thomson-Moore’s three-year-old son Teddy who has cerebral palsy.
This was done partially to “make their lives a bit easier, and in appreciation of their resisting the pressure put on them to breach the Agreements”.
The money was returned to John Paul Magnier via Mr Stokes some days later. Mr Magnier and his son allege that the return of the money was for “entirely self-interested reasons and not as a matter of principle”.
Mr Stokes alleges that the handover of the money had been witnessed by an employee of the Barne estate and this made Mr Thomson-Moore feel uncomfortable.
The case came before the Commercial Court on Monday, with Mr Magnier’s side asking Mr Justice Denis McDonald to rule on whether the Barne Estate parties should be required to respond to certain questions put to them.
The Magniers’ senior counsel, Paul Gallagher, instructed by Arthur Cox solicitors, said one of his queries relates to the “central” issue of the authority to agree to the sale. He said his clients are entitled to ask questions related to the Barne’s defence.
Senior counsel Martin Hayden, instructed by McDermott Creed & Martyn Solicitors, for the Barne estate parties, said his opponents are in difficulty with their claim and are “seeking to effectively go on a fishing expedition” with some of their questions.
Mr Justice McDonald noted agreement has already been reached regarding most of the questions. The majority of those still in dispute did not arise from the original court documents filed by the plaintiffs, he said.
However, he said, some of these seem to be matters the Magniers will “very likely” be entitled to pursue further down the line via interrogatories, which require answers to be given on oath.
The Magniers were entitled to a response to another disputed question if they refined its scope, the judge said.
He declared a “draw” between the parties on the motion and directed the responses, including those agreed earlier, to be delivered to the Magniers by Friday.
Why a billionaire is buying up land in one Irish county - and why its farmers are unhappy
Irish billionaire John Magnier has been steadily accumulating huge tracts of land in south Tipperary. He's entitled to do so. But local farmers say they are being priced out of buying the land they desperately need to stay afloat in a difficult business environment. Ronan McGreevy reports.
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