Docklands authority asked for statements from McNamara case

The Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) has been asked by the Commercial Court to provide witness statements in the action by bankrupt developer Bernard McNamara concerning the controversial €412 million sale of the Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend.

A UK official administering Mr McNamara’s bankruptcy had asked for, and is entitled to see, the witness statements before deciding whether to continue the action against the DDDA in the interests of Mr McNamara’s creditors, Mr Justice Peter Kelly said.

He was responding to an application by Brian Kennedy SC, for the DDDA, as to how the litigation by Mr McNamara and his company Donatex Ltd should continue given the bankruptcy.

The case was initiated in 2009 but has been delayed due to several factors. As a bankrupt, Mr McNamara cannot himself continue the proceedings and the trustee was appointed last November.

In their proceedings, Donatex and Mr McNamara have claimed the DDDA had no lawful power to enter into the November 2006 IGB site agreement and was unable to perform its obligations under the deal, thereby frustrating the development of the site and causing substantial losses for them.

Mr Kennedy said the DDDA, as a public body, had concerns about the costs of the litigation as both Mr McNamara and Donatex were impecunious. The authority was anxious to avoid unnecessary costs, he said.

Mr Justice Kelly said he was sympathetic to the trustee’s request for more time to consider the position. He directed the statements be delivered within two weeks although the case “has a big question mark over it” given the previous “extraordinary carry-on” concerning the shareholding [in Donatex], he said.

He adjourned the matter for four weeks. The trustee is then to outline whether he intends to proceed with the action. Other issues will also be addressed then.

In March 2011, in a dispute over the shareholding in Donatex, Mr McNamara said he had “inadvertently” resigned from it the previous January.