A High Court judge has refused a debt servicing firm’s application for possession of McGrattan’s pub in central Dublin on foot of an alleged €1 million debt.
Judge Liam Kennedy found Mars Capital Finance failed to properly serve legal papers on Florida-registered G-Mac Holdings Limited, a single-purpose vehicle whose only assets are the freehold interest in McGrattan’s Public House at 76/77 Fitzwilliam Lane and some parking spaces around Merrion Square.
The judge adjourned the case after reaching his decision on Friday.
Mars Capital sought possession of the pub on the basis of an alleged default by G-Mac Holdings on loans advanced by Bank of Ireland in 2014 and 2023.
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Mars Capital purchased the loans from the bank and alleged G-Mac Holdings repeatedly defaulted on repayments and failed to pay the total balance on demand in July 2024.
No representative of G-Mac Holdings appeared for the two-day hearing at Dublin’s High Court this week. The case was also against the occupants of the McGrattan’s pub premises: BBB Taverns Limited and Gallery Entertainment Limited.
Lawyers for the occupant companies argued the debt firm failed to properly serve legal papers on G-Mac Holdings in Florida. Barristers Gary McCarthy and Keith Farry, instructed by O’Sullivan & Associates, contended prior court permission must be secured before serving a company outside of Ireland.
Mars Capital’s lawyers contended the company had been properly served, including via its place of business in Dublin.
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The judge’s refusal to grant possession on Friday is not the end of the disputes between Mars Capital and the McGrattan’s pub.
Publican Dan McGrattan, a director of G-Mac Holdings and the occupant companies, has issued a petition for the winding up of G-Mac Holdings on grounds it allegedly owes him €1.5 million arising out of a €92,000 mortgage debenture from 2011.
His petition, advanced “exclusively in his capacity as a creditor”, alleges the company has “no effective management presence within the State”, is unable to pay its debts, and should be wound up for “just and equitable” reasons.
He sent a letter of demand for payment of €1.5 million last November, but, he claims, this letter “has not been returned” and the sum has not been paid.
McGrattan claims his debt is secured as a “first-ranking” charge over McGrattan’s pub and that Mars Capital’s purported charge over the property is invalid.
Mars Capital’s senior counsel, Eamon Marray instructed by Healy Pentony Solicitors, has said his client will oppose the petition as it is “effectively an abuse of the process of the court”.
The petition is due back before the High Court next month.
