Receiver expected to move against O’Donnells

Latest move follows expiry of deadline for couple to vacate Vico Road house

A Bank of Ireland-appointed receiver is expected to go to the High Court in Dublin this Thursday morning to seek a trespass injunction aimed at getting property developer Brian O'Donnell and his wife to leave the family home on Vico Road, Killiney.

The move follows the passing of a court deadline of 4pm on Wednesday for Mr O’Donnell and his wife Mary Patricia to vacate the house, Gorse Hill.

If they fail to comply with the injunction, the receiver could bring a separate application for attachment and committal, which could result in the couple being sent to jail.

Blockade

Representatives of the receiver pinned a trespass notice to the gates of the property on Tuesday after the High Court rejected an attempt by the couple’s children, Blaise, Blake, Bruce and Alexandra O’Donnell, to stop the repossession of the house.

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The couple remained in the house on Wednesday for the third day of a blockade, as the deadline of 4pm for them to vacate passed.

It was the latest in a series of deadlines by which the couple were expected to leave the property, which a court last month assigned to a receiver for Bank of Ireland. The assignment was on foot of a claim for debts of about €71½ million.

The New Land League, which has been blockading the house at the invitation of the O’Donnells, said it would be fronting a constitutional challenge against the State to prevent the eviction of the O’Donnell family from their home.

They said a collective case will also be brought to the European Court of Justice to prevent banks repossessing homes.

The league’s Tom Darcy said a London-based firm of solicitors, Duffy, Fowler and Gabby, will take the case to Europe.

Ruadhán Mac Cormaic

Ruadhán Mac Cormaic

Ruadhán Mac Cormaic is the Editor of The Irish Times

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien is an Irish Times journalist