Ireland

Record numbers of cash-strapped individuals and companies were pursued through the courts in the first half of the year as Irish creditors chased over €1 billion in debt, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. Figures released by debt monitor Stubbs Gazette reveal that judgments against debtors rose a massive 416% in the first six months of the year, rising from €248 million in 2009 to over €1 billion in the first half of 2010. A judgment essentially changes the status of a debt into a Court demand, entitling the creditor to take enforcement proceedings to recover the debt.

The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) and the State will ask the Commercial Court next Monday to fast-track the first legal challenge to the agency by businessman Paddy McKillen and 14 of his companies over the proposed transfer to Nama of €80 million of the companies’ loans, The Irish Times reported. Mr McKillen claims the €80 million credit facilities from Bank of Ireland are “fully performing”, not impaired, there is no default on repayments and transfer of the loans would have a “drastic and significantly detrimental” impact on his business and property rights.

Bailed-out Bank of Ireland won European Union regulatory approval on Thursday for its restructuring plan after pledging to sell assets and wind down some portfolios, Reuters reported. Ireland's biggest bank by market value received 3.5 billion euros ($4.45 billion) of capital injection and other state aid last year due to the credit crisis and the bursting of the Irish property boom. Under the restructuring scheme, the bank will reduce its presence in certain markets by selling assets as previously announced, the European Commission said.

Hundreds of Irish people have had their travel plans thrown into disarray following the collapse of the 1800hotels.ie. online travel company, The Irish Times reported. The company, which handles bookings for some 70,000 hotels around the world, said last night that it had been forced into bankruptcy proceedings in the United States as it attempted to restructure its debt. In a statement, a spokesman for the company said some customers might experience room cancellations. The 1800Hotels spokesman said it was pursuing a legal injunction to prevent any further disruption to customers.

Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick has been adjudicated a bankrupt by the High Court at his own request, just days after opposition from the bank ensured the collapse of his proposed settlement deal with creditors, The Irish Times reported. The official assignee in bankruptcy, Chris Lehane, will now deal with Mr FitzPatrick’s creditors, who are owed some €150 million. His assets are estimated to be worth some €50 million, including investments of some €45.7 million, and some €1.23 million in accounts in various financial institutions.

Irish Nationwide plans to hire law firm McCann Fitzgerald and accountants Ernst Young to investigate lending policies and practices followed by the building society under the management of former chief Michael Fingleton, The Irish Times reported. The building society has been asked to develop a legacy plan by the Government. It has effectively been nationalised following the Government’s commitment to inject €2.7 billion into it.

Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick is to ask the High Court to declare him bankrupt on Monday after he told the court the bank has blocked a proposed settlement deal with his creditors, The Irish Times reported. Mark Sanfey SC, counsel for Mr FitzPatrick, told the court today his client wanted to petition the court to be adjudicated bankrupt.

The Morrison Hotel on Ormond Quay, Dublin, is to be run by a provisional liquidator after the hotel's operating company withdrew its defence against a claim by the receiver for €5.7 million in unpaid rent, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. Mr Justice Brian McGovern entered the judgement against the Morrison Hotel Ltd in the High Court and appointed a liquidator to the firm on the grounds that it was unable to repay the debt.

Jim Mansfield’s high-profile Citywest Hotel, conference centre and golf complex in Saggart, Co Dublin, has been placed into receivership by Bank of Scotland (Ireland), The Irish Times reported. The bank yesterday appointed Martin Ferris of Ferris Associates as receiver to HSS, which trades as the Citywest Hotel, Conference Centre, Leisure and Golf Resort. The appointment also includes the assets of Jeffel, a land-holding company. The large Citywest site includes 1,712 bedrooms, two golf courses, two conference centres and a helipad.

Problems with its overseas operations have contributed to forcing Asian restaurant chain Mao into receivership, the Irish Times reported. AIB has appointed Kenneth Fennell of corporate restructuring specialists Kavanagh Fennell as receiver to the company, which operates three restaurants in Dublin. The business is continuing to trade under its existing management and is seeking a buyer or new investor. In recent years, the group opened restaurants in Cape Town in South Africa, which is closed; and in Glasgow, Scotland, which is for sale.