A man is facing the possible sale of his €1.2 million family property in Co Meath if he and his wife do not repay a €350,000 debt to his two brothers.
The Court of Appeal had in 2023 found Alan and Derek Gaffney were entitled to judgment for US$372,043 (€350,000) against their brother Philip Gaffney, an Irish souvenir manufacturer, and his wife Teresa, of The Naul, Co Meath.
The judgment sum arose from payments advanced by the plaintiff brothers so Philip Gaffney could fulfil a lucrative US €1.3 million 2015 order for Irish souvenirs with US-based Quality Value Choice Corporation (QVC), which runs a TV shopping channel and also has an online presence.
Mr Gaffney’s ceramic Irish products, such as leprechauns, cottages, fairy doors and mushrooms, were to feature as the firm’s “Today’s Special Value” item on a date around St Patrick’s Day in 2016, but the contract was pulled in February 2016.
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The High Court previously held, on the balance of probabilities, that Philip Gaffney had lost the order or had to relinquish it due to not passing all the required tests and/or not being able to fulfil the order for 67,000 items by mid-March 2016.
His brothers claimed they made various payments to Philip Gaffney and his wife between October 2015 and February 2016, as a loan to expand their workshop and obtain raw materials to be able to meet the QVC order.
Alan Gaffney said the $372,043 comprised $272,043 from him and $100,000 from Derek Gaffey.
In 2022, the High Court determined that $372.043 was owed by Philip Gaffney to his brothers but rejected their claim against Teresa Gaffney. It dismissed Philip Gaffney’s proceedings against Alan Gaffney and his wife, alleging they had breached an agreement to invest €400,000 in his business.
In May 2023, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal by Alan and Derek Gaffney against the finding that Teresa Gaffney was not a party to the 2015 contract. It held that she had been an active participant in the business and entered total judgments for $372,043 against both.
The judgments of the High Court and Court of Appeal were later registered as a judgment mortgage against the defendants’ interests in their 0.75 hectares (1.4 acre) property in Naul, including a substantial family home and a 557sq m workshop.
When no monies were paid towards the judgment debt, Alan and Derek Gaffney obtained an order from the Circuit Court in July 2024 declaring the judgment was registered as a burden on the Co Meath property. The Circuit Court orders were stayed pending appeal to the High Court.
In opposing the appeal by Philip and Teresa Gaffney, Derek Gaffney said the defendants’ products had featured on the Late Late Toy Show in late 2023 and this “high profile TV placement” was “galling” as the defendants were clearly still in business and selling their products.
Mr Gaffney said, while refusing to pay them anything, the defendants were continuing to trade in the last eight years since they took the loan monies and continued to ignore the “legal and moral obligation” to repay. Both plaintiffs said the failure to repay had cost them and their families considerable stress and difficulties.
In his judgment published this week, Mr Justice Bradly said he proposed to make orders that the judgments totalling $372,043 were well charged against the defendants’ interest in their Co Meath property. There has been “a continuous refusal” by the defendants to repay the debt, he said.
He also proposed to order the plaintiffs were entitled to details of any other encumbrances affecting the Co Meath property, and to an order for sale of the property if the judgment sums, plus interest, were not repaid within six months of the date of judgment.
Final orders will be made in October when the judge said he will discuss whether there should be any stay on his orders.
