A Co Waterford farm family were evicted yesterday when agents of the Irish Nationwide Building Society took possession of their house and lands on foot of a court order.
Mrs Anne Murphy, a widow, left the farmhouse in the early afternoon after being served with court documents by the Sheriff and County Registrar, Mr Niall Rooney.
Mrs Murphy's teenage daughter, Josephine, broke down in tears when she arrived home from school to find the family home taken over. After discussions, she was allowed to enter the farm, accompanied by a garda, to remove her pony and some personal possessions.
The fate of the Murphy family's herd of 170 cattle remained in dispute last night after a day-long confrontation at the farm of about 140 acres, which is located at Whitestown, Clonea Power, near Portlaw.
Gardai remained on duty at the farm last night as a public meeting took place in a hall in nearby Clonea to discuss community support for the Murphy family.
The disposal or removal of the livestock from the property was the subject of a separate court order, and a number of empty cattle trucks arrived at the farm early yesterday morning. However, the trucks departed without removing the cattle after neighbours and friends of the Murphys gathered at the entrance to the farmyard.
Negotiations on the care and welfare of the dairy herd then took place, in the presence of gardai, between Mrs Murphy's sons and members of an unidentified security firm which took over the property on behalf of the building society.
An agricultural consultant acting on behalf of the family, Mr Martin O'Sullivan, said that the family was in dispute with the society concerning alleged arrears and interest outstanding on a loan of some £70,000 secured by Mrs Murphy's late husband, Milo, in 1989 to develop the farm.
Mr O'Sullivan said that substantial repayments had been made when portions of the land were sold off after proceedings were initiated by the society. After Mr Murphy became seriously ill in 1994, an administrator was appointed to manage his affairs
Mrs Murphy's son, Pat, said that he had declined yesterday to remove the cattle from the farm as he had no place to put them and could be in breach of animal health regulations if they were placed on a neighbour's farm.
He said he continued to be concerned about the animals' welfare, however, and had agreed to the use of the farm machinery by the society's agents to feed the livestock.
Mr Murphy said that the family had been told informally that the outstanding debt now amounted to about £198,000.
The family's solicitor, Mr Michael O'Brien, said that he was looking into what legal recourse might be available.
No representative of the Irish Nationwide Building Society could be contacted for comment last night.