HIGH Court judge has made an order winding up a construction company of which developer Thomas McFeely is a director over its failure to pay the Revenue Commissioners some €144,000 for unpaid VAT and PRSI.
Ms Justice Mary Laffoy yesterday appointed a liquidator to Coalport Building Company Ltd, Holles Street, Dublin, after being informed the company had failed to satisfy the Revenue demand.
The judge agreed to place a stay on the winding-up order for seven days to allow the company to consider a Supreme Court appeal.
The Revenue had petitioned the court to have the company wound up on grounds its demand had not been satisfied and it was of the view Coalport was insolvent.
During yesterday’s proceedings, the judge was told Coalport had a cheque in court to satisfy the Revenue’s demand. Revenue’s counsel asked for an adjournment to allow time for the cheque to clear.
Ms Justice Laffoy said that she was not prepared to grant a further adjournment of the matter.
She had already granted one adjournment and, in keeping with the policy of the court in relation to winding-up petitions, was not prepared to delay matters again.
When the matter was before her last month, she had warned that if the Revenue demand was not dealt with by yesterday, she would have no option but to make an order winding up the company.
It was up to Revenue to either withdraw the petition or proceed with its application to have the company wound up, she said.
The judge said she had also wanted to see an affidavit from the company’s directors showing it was solvent but no such affidavit was presented to the court.
Following the judge’s comments, Dermot Cahill, for Revenue, applied to proceed with the petition to wind up the company and the cheque was returned.
The judge made the winding-up order and appointed Derek Earl as liquidator. She also directed Coalport’s directors – Thomas McFeely and Noel McFeely – to swear a statement of affairs and returned the matter to the High Court Examiner’s list next month.
Earlier yesterday, the judge dismissed an adjournment application by MCR Personnel Ltd, which had brought a separate petition to have Coalport wound up due to alleged failure to satisfy a debt of €40,000.
Theresa McGuinness, an office manager from Rush, Co Dublin, also told the court she had not received €350,000 from Coalport following her High Court action against the firm in 2009.
A lawyer acting for Coalport said it intended to resolve matters with Ms McGuinness.