Court issues warrant for construction firm directors

A HIGH Court judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of two construction company directors believed to have fled to Canada after failing to comply with a court order to pay €1.8 million in debts due by their company to another firm.

A further €2.2 million is also outstanding in loans on two properties bought by the two directors, Colm and Martina McNulty, the court heard.

The couple are being separately pursued by the Pensions Board over failure to pay €180,000 pension contributions for their company's employees and a warrant for their arrest was issued after they failed to appear before the District Court last month in those proceedings.

The McNultys, of Kilreesk Lane, St Margaret's, Co Dublin, seem to have gone to Canada and sought to set up a new establishment there. They had told their lawyers they did not intend to obey an order to attend court yesterday, Mr Justice Peter Kelly was told.

The couple owe some €1.8 million to a Co Louth company, Doka Ireland Formwork Technologies, for equipment and services supplied to their company, Limestone Construction Ltd. Doka secured an order from the court last February finding the couple personally liable for that debt.

Also yesterday, the judge heard the couple's family home at Kilreesk Lane, bought for €280,000 in 2001, was later remortaged and there are now loans of €1.83 million outstanding on that property.

A further €414,920 is outstanding on another property, also located at Kilreesk Lane.

In July last, Mr Justice Kelly directed the couple and their former solicitor to appear before him yesterday to be cross-examined in relation to the judgment issued against the couple. The couple failed to appear.

Their former solicitor, Neil T Blaney, told the judge they had not been in communication with him and he had heard they had gone to Canada.

Mr Blaney agreed Mr McNulty had been "cagey" in his dealings with him concerning the affairs of Limestone and that he never got a full picture about what assets existed. He believed Mr McNulty had last December taken personal possession of a cheque for €800,000 due to Limestone from another company.

Mr Blaney said he had not been appointed solicitor to Limestone and Mr McNulty appeared to have conducted a lot of its business himself.

Mr Blaney said he first dealt with the couple relating to the purchase of their home at Kilreesk Lane in 2001 and agreed that the delay of some seven years in that property being registered was a long one.

He said Mr McNulty had not instructed him to delay registration and the matter had just not been addressed.

The court heard the family home was bought with an Irish Nationwide Building Society loan in 2001 and refinanced with a loan from Bank of Scotland Ireland in 2005.

Mr Justice Kelly said the couple were in "very clear contempt" of the court order and he granted an application by Denis McDonald SC, for Doka, for an order for their arrest and detention for the purposes of being brought before the court.