Quinns to challenge IBRC legislation
Irish Bank Resolution Corporation
Seán Quinn’s family have been given permission by the Commercial Court to bring a challenge to a section of the recently passed IBRC legislation, which places a stay on legal proceedings against the liquidated bank.
On Monday, Mr Justice Peter Kelly said the court was faced with “something of a conundrum” as the Quinns’ case against IBRC was before the court for mention. The judge said the IBRC Act had been passed into law, yet no one could get a copy of it. “This was an unsatisfactory situation,” he said.
A section of the act provided for an immediate stay on all proceedings against IBRC, and the Quinns asked for leave to bring a case seeking to have that stay lifted this week. The judge said his first concern was there was no jurisdiction in the act to lift that stay but there appeared to be provision to permit new proceedings. Mr Justice Peter Kelly also said, the issues would have to be argued before the court and that this was the first of a number of cases against IBRC before the Commercial Court and the outcome would have implications for all litigation affected by the stay.
A hearing of the application will be held on March 7. The Quinns claims they are not liable for €2.34bn in loans, which they say were given unlawfully to them.
Counsel for the Quinns, Ross Alyward said the jurisdiction of the court to lift the stay would be a matter for debate. Senior Counsel for the liquidator Paul Gallagher said there was no objection to the bringing of the application.
Mr Justice Kelly asked if anyone had been able to get a copy of the Act as passed and was told by Paul Gallagher it was “not available at the moment”. The judge said it was “very unsatisfactory that we all have to work within an Act and can’t get a copy of it, and we are left conjecturing as to whether there were any amendments” before it was passed.
He granted liberty to bring the application and said the court would have to construe the provisions of the act to see if there was jurisdiction to deal with the stay.
In relation to IBRC’s case against the family of Sean Quinn, the family expect to hear today, Wednesday February 13 how the special liquidators are to proceed in the legal action.
The case came before the Commercial Courts last Friday, but was adjourned to today as Barrister Ailil O’Reilly told Mr Justice Peter Kelly he had been given no instructions from the special liquidators to wind up the bank.
Locally, the liquidation of IBRC is to have “no impact” on the Quinn Group in Ballyconnell and Derrylin. In a statement from the Quinn manufacturing Group to the Leitrim Observer management said “The liquidation of IBRC announced by the Irish Government last night has no impact whatever on the Quinn Manufacturing Group. IBRC had a minority shareholding (24.9%) in this business and has no involvement in the management of the Group. Consequently this change has no implications whatever for our Company, for our employees, or for our dealings with our customers and suppliers. It is business as usual.”
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Weather for Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
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Temperature: 8 C to 18 C
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