THE ONE-TIME billionaire Seán Quinn struggled to escape the snares of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (formerly Anglo Irish Bank) yesterday, but in the end failed.
A summons that would form the initial stage of seeking to have him declared a bankrupt in the Republic was issued on Friday last, but efforts to serve the summons on him had failed.
Yesterday the High Court in Dublin was told that Mr Quinn had refused to open the locked gates of his home at Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, to personally accept the document.
Solicitors on both sides of the Border had told the now State-owned bank that they had no instructions from Mr Quinn to accept a bankruptcy summons on his behalf and had declined to do so, the court was told.
Barrister Aillil O’Reilly said that a summons server on behalf of IBRC had attended at Mr Quinn’s home in Ballyconnell on several occasions and had been refused admission after ringing the entrance bell at the locked gates.
Mr O’Reilly said the summons server had observed movement and lights in and around the Quinn home despite having received no answer to pushing the bell button on the gate.
On one occasion he had seen a man he believed to be Seán Quinn walking around his car outside the house as if waiting for the summons server to leave. Mr Quinn had later driven out of the gateway without the server having been able to serve the summons on him or gain entrance to his home.
At the same time as IBRC was seeking permission from Mr Justice Michael Peart to proceed by way of substituted service, lawyers representing Mr Quinn were seeking an injunction in the High Court in Belfast to prevent his being served with a summons.
Mr Justice Donnell Deeny, who earlier this week reserved judgment in an application from IBRC to have Mr Quinn’s Northern Irish bankruptcy status, granted in November, annulled, was asked to stop the service as it would be an interference with the proceedings in the North.
However the judge accepted the bank’s assurance it would commence proceedings in the Republic but not take the crucial step of seeking an order of bankruptcy in the Republic until the annulment application before his case had been determined.
Back in Dublin Mr Justice Peart said he was satisfied there would be no abuse of process in granting IBRC’s application. He directed that the summons could be served by posting it into Mr Quinn’s postbox in Ballyconnell, and also by service on solicitors.
Northern Ireland allows bankrupts purge their debts in as little as a year, while the period in the Republic is up to 12 years. Mr Quinn has debts to IBRC of more than €2 billion, and has said he has assets of less than £50,000.