Nationwide gets €78m order against Carroll's Aifca

IRISH NATIONWIDE Building Society has secured a €78 million summary judgment order against Aifca Ltd, a company controlled by property developer Liam Carroll, over unpaid loans relating to the proposed development of The Square shopping centre in Tallaght.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly granted the judgment order yesterday against Aifca and has adjourned to July 29th the society’s application for a €60 million summary judgment order against Mr Carroll personally, arising from a September 2006 guarantee by him and others over the loans to Aifca.

Aifca was a company of developers Thomas McFeely and Larry O’Mahony which bought the Lowe Taverns licence required for any development of The Square shopping centre in Tallaght. Mr Carroll later acquired a controlling interest in Aifca.

The proposed development has not proceeded.

The proceedings by INBS against Mr Carroll and Aifca, Upper Mount Street, Dublin, were admitted to the Commercial Court last month.

On the basis of guarantees of September 28th, 2006 by Mr Carroll, Mr McFeely and Mr O’Mahony, INBS claims it granted a term loan facility to Aifca for €66.5 million and some €78.6 million was owed by Aifca under that facility. It claims the guarantee was for liabilities of a maximum €60 million.

INBS claims the repayment of the loan facility was to be made on demand or within the two-year period of the loan.

Mr Justice Kelly was told that while Mr O’Mahony and Mr McFeely also executed the guarantee over the borrowings of Aifca, INBS has not to date brought summary judgment proceedings against them but only against Mr Carroll and Aifca.

While Mr Carroll had argued that the Aifca loan was never intended to be repayable on demand and was a longer-term facility, he had also said he was not himself directly involved in negotiations on that facility and it was Mr McFeely and Mr O’Mahony, who were so involved, the judge said.

They had not sworn affidavits as to the nature of those negotiations and the loan facility documents also stated it was repayable on demand or within two years.

Mr Justice Kelly added that in those circumstances, there was no evidence before the court on which it could find Aifca had established any arguable defence.