Lawyers for bank catalogue contents of O'Donnells' home in Dublin

LAWYERS FOR Bank of Ireland are cataloguing personal items and other contents at the Killiney home of property investor and solicitor Brian O’Donnell after securing a court order last Friday.

Law firm Arthur Cox, which represents the bank in its legal action against Mr O’Donnell and his wife, Dr Mary O’Donnell, over debts of €75 million, arrived at Gorse Hill on Vico Road yesterday morning to complete a schedule of art, furniture, curtains, rugs and electronics in the house.

The bank secured an order from Mr Justice Peter Kelly on Friday to gain access to the property to list the contents after the bank failed to secure a legal claim against one of the O’Donnells’ London properties in the British courts.

A family member was quoted by RTÉ yesterday confirming that solicitors for the bank were inside the property carrying out work and that the lawyers had arrived with staff from an auctioneering firm at 8am yesterday.

A spokesman for Bank of Ireland had no comment to make.

A spokesman for Arthur Cox also declined to comment.

At about 4.45pm yesterday two men and a woman carrying files and briefcases left the O’Donnells’ house but refused to make any comment to waiting reporters as they walked through the large, dark wooden gothic-style gates.

Earlier, they spoke at the front door of the house with a young blonde woman. She remained indoors looking out of the bay window as they left.

Many of the blinds on the windows of the large house were shut.

The property has an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court. There are pottery urns on either side of the front door of the cream-coloured house and inside the large walls surrounding the gate.

The house has unspoiled views of Killiney Bay, with just the Dart line running between the property and the sea. The O’Donnells count musicians Bono and Enya among their neighbours.

Mr O’Donnell has been examined by the bank for four days in the Commercial Court over what Mr Justice Kelly described as “alarming” discrepancies in the couple’s statements of assets.

The case was adjourned last week until June 26th to allow Mr O’Donnell produce documents to the court concerning more details about his assets and family trusts.

The bank has told the court that it had “serious concerns” that Mr O’Donnell’s children, the owners of Gorse Hill, might challenge a guarantee given to the bank in relation to the house covering their parents’ liabilities to the bank.

The house is owned by an Isle of Man company called Vico, the shares in which are held in the “Anduyr Trust” for the O’Donnells’ four children – Blake, Bruce, Blaise and Alexandra.

The O’Donnells told the bank in a statement of their financial affairs in February that the property had a market value of between €6 million and €7 million, down from €30 million in 2006.

Mr O’Donnell and his wife filed for bankruptcy in the UK in March after the bank refused a debt settlement proposal under English law. The bank has said that it may contest the bankruptcy filing and seek to have them declared bankrupt in the Irish courts instead.