Ireland

Since its chaotic handling of the alleged cheating scandal in 2022, the reputation of An Coimisiún Le Rincí­ Gaelacha (CLRG) has hinged on it trying to bring the cases of the 44 people accused of so-called feis fixing to a satisfactory conclusion. That will now never happen. And in the midst of the latest scandal, it has also emerged the CLRG is facing insolvency, the Irish Independent reported. Those who had been accused are furious: many maintain that had they had the benefit of a hearing, they would have been cleared of gross misconduct.

Office landlords, battered by a global crash, have been clinging to the hope that new buildings with strong green credentials will still demand top rents and prices. Dublin is emerging as a cautionary tale that such optimism may not hold up, Bloomberg News reported. In the city’s North Docks district, new buildings are falling into bankruptcy protection after US tech firms scaled back the amount of new space they leased and borrowing costs rose.

Lawyers for top liquidator Kieran Wallace cannot “drive a coach and four” through insolvency legislation with a novel claim for over €6 million on behalf of an insolvent pension fund, a State barrister has said, the Irish Times reported. The remark was made on the final day of hearing into a complaint under the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Act 1984, taken by Mr Wallace against the Minister for Enterprise.

A builder who became insolvent ­following the construction sector crash in the late 2000s has had more than €2.2m in debt written off in return for a lump-sum payment of €80,000, the Irish Independent reported. Under a personal insolvency arrangement (PIA) approved by the High Court, David Lawlor (60) will be able to retain his family home, which was in negative equity. The court heard Mr Lawlor, a separated farmer and maintenance worker from Dragoon Hill, Hollywood, Co Wicklow, had overall debts of €2.7m.

Activity in the Republic of Ireland’s services sector expanded again in February but the growth was accompanied “by rising price pressures”, AIB has said, the Irish Times reported. The bank’s latest purchasing managers index for services rose to 54.4 last month, up from 50.5 in January, signalling the fastest rate of expansion in six months. Any figure above 50 indicates expansion. The increased level of activity, however, was accompanied by a worrying uptick with input prices and charges rising at the fastest rates in 10 and 12 months respectively.

A Dublin landlord and accountant has had his bankruptcy extended by seven years over what a judge described as “egregious” failure to co-operate with the official administering it, including by not disclosing information about his income and assets, the Irish Times reported. The High Court’s Mr Justice Liam Kennedy said the evidence was there may be as many as 43 properties in which Fintan Egan has an interest, making his failure to co-operate “all the more egregious”. Mr Egan was adjudicated bankrupt on the petition of the Revenue Commissioners in November 2022.

Like a lot of explosive financial scandals, the story of Michael Quinn and Brendan Cahill could fairly be described as a simple proposition that spun completely out of control, the New York Times reported. Quinn was an Irish oil-and-gas man with warm eyes and a mustache; Cahill was his longtime partner, an accountant by training. The two had been working in Nigeria since the 1970s, doing small-time deals in the energy and defense sectors, like fixing tanks and siting oil wells. But in the mid-2000s, they spied a bigger opportunity.

Business insolvencies in Northern Ireland soared by 62% in the final quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year, government figures show, the Irish News reported. But on the flip side, more than 13,200 start-ups were launched over the last 12 months. There were 81 company insolvencies in the north in the October-December period, according to the Insolvency Service, taking the total number of business failures over the calendar year to more than 200.

An application to extend the bankruptcy of Wexford businessman Alan Hynes over his alleged non-cooperation with the official administering of his bankruptcy has been adjourned to next month, the reported. Mr Hynes has brought a separate application to “annul” his bankruptcy and is seeking legal aid to pursue that, Mr Justice Liam Kennedy heard on Monday.

The Irish High Court has appointed joint provisional liquidators to a firm that issues prepaid cards allowing customers to buy goods and services throughout the European Union, the Irish Independent reported. On Wednesday, Mr Justice Mark Sanfey appointed insolvency practitioners Kieran Wallace and Andrew O'Leary of Interpath Advisory Ireland as provisional liquidators to PFS Card Services Ireland Ltd, which is owned by the Australian financial technology group EML.