Lancefort Company Ltd, a company of conservationists which pursued lengthy, costly and ultimately unsuccessful legal proceedings against a proposed hotel and office development in central Dublin, was wound up by High Court order yesterday.
Mr Justice Kelly made the order on the petition of Treasury Holdings Ltd, developers of the complex. Treasury brought the petition over a debt of £23,000 due to it from Lancefort for legal costs. The judge appointed a Dublin accountant, Mr Ray Jackson, as liquidator.
Mr Maurice Collins, for Treasury, said the winding-up petition was adjourned last January after Ms Justice Carroll was told Lancefort was still pursuing an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights against a Supreme Court finding that it had no legal standing to challenge the development.
A letter had been received from the European Court last month which declared that Lancefort's application before the European Court was inadmissible. That decision was final and not subject to appeal.
Mr Collins said Treasury was a creditor of Lancefort to a far greater extent than £23,000. Lancefort was not in a position to pay the debt and his clients were entitled to a winding-up order.
Mr Justice Kelly asked, given that Lancefort had no assets, whether Treasury was prepared to pay costs and fees. Mr Collins said it would and, if the order was made, Lancefort's directors would have to make a statement of that company's affairs which would be reviewed by the liquidator.
Mr Colm Mac Eochaidh, for Lancefort, said Treasury knew it had no assets and it was a matter for the court to decide whether, in such circumstances, the petition was a correct use of the court's "machinery".
Making the order, Mr Justice Kelly said this was yet another chapter in a lengthy legal saga between the two companies over a number of years. The Taxing Master had certified a bill of legal costs in favour of Treasury Holdings for £23,834 as owing by Lancefort.
The Lancefort application to the European Court of Human Rights was over and done with and there remained the debt which was not contested. As Lancefort had no assets, it had been asked what point was there in Treasury pursuing the petition because no benefit would be gained by the company.
There were no assets and the costs incurred would be borne by Treasury Holdings, including the costs of the liquidator. However, the fact that there did not appear to be a commercial benefit accruing to Treasury in the winding up was not a special circumstance which would warrant refusing to make an order for the winding up of the company.