Former Fine Gael minister and broadcaster Ivan Yates has been awarded the legal costs of his successful application to have Allied Irish Banks’ bid to have him declared bankrupt in Ireland dismissed. The case involved liabilities of Celtic Bookmakers, the bookies chain founded by him. In a High Court judgment last August, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne ruled that a bankruptcy summons issued arising out of his alleged failure to satisfy a demand by AIB for payment of €3.69 million could be struck out.
The judge said Mr Yates was entitled to challenge the validity of the summons and had raised “real and substantive issues” in respect of the amount sought by AIB. Lawyers for Mr Yates argued that he was entitled to his costs as he had succeeded in his application.