Sean Dunne loses appeal over challenge to bankruptcy officials

High Court Reporter

Bankrupt property developer Sean Dunne has lost an appeal challenging the appointment of officials who oversaw his bankruptcy process.

Mr Justice Charles Meenan, on behalf of the three-judge Court of Appeal, dismissed his appeal on Friday.

Mr Dunne was one of the most prominent property developers of the Celtic Tiger era, but he went bankrupt with debts of some €700 million and in 2013 filed for bankruptcy in the US.

Shortly afterwards, with the permission of the US authorities, he was declared bankrupt here. He brought challenges to the Irish adjudication, which were dismissed in the High Court and on appeal by the Supreme Court.

His bankruptcy was subsequently extended by the High Court in 2018 over material non-cooperation with the official assignee appointed to oversee his bankruptcy, which means he stands to be discharged from bankruptcy until April 2028.

Last year, he brought a challenge to the appointment of two official assignees who had dealt with his bankruptcy over the years with his bankruptcy. He claimed Chris Lehane, the first to deal with him, and Michael Ian Larkin, the second, were not validly appointed. His action was also against the solicitors acting for those two men.

He also sought a number of other things, including that he be allowed to cross-examine Chris Lehane and a declaration that the director of the Insolvency Service of Ireland had not been validly appointed.

He further sought that the judge hearing the matter, Mr Justice Liam Kennedy, recuse himself on grounds including the judge's previous involvement as senior partner in A and L Goodbody Solicitors and his alleged connections with Mr Dunne’s creditors.

The judge rejected the recusal application and also rejected his challenge to the appointment of the official assignees.

Mr Dunne appealed both the refusal of the judge to recuse himself and the decision to dismiss his case, claiming the High Court had erred.

The respondents opposed the appeal.

Dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice Meenan said the High Court judge could not be faulted in his reasoning, was clearly acting well within the discretion he had, and no sufficient reasons were advanced by Mr Dunne to reverse this ruling in relation to his main challenges.

In relation to the recusal application, Mr Justice Meenan said he was fully satisfied that the trial judge was correct in his decision not to recuse himself.

Mr Dunne identified no grounds for recusal arising from the trial judge’s former role as a senior partner in A and L Goodbodys, he said.