# "Land League" blocking repossession of Brian O'Donnell's home



## Brendan Burgess (2 Mar 2015)

You couldn't make this stuff up. 




http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0302/683890-solicitor/

Solicitor Brian O'Donnell has effectively barricaded himself into his Killiney home, assisted by members of the "new land league", in an effort to prevent the banks taking possession of it.

Members of the land league anti-repossession movement have blocked the entrance.

The group says they were invited by the O'Donnell family on the understanding a receiver would arrive today, to the house at Gorse Hill on Vico Road, in Killiney in Dublin, once valued at €30m.


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## 44brendan (2 Mar 2015)

What can we do to save this poor man and his family from being evicted? Is there no end to the tyranny of the Banks and their evil ways? I take it you'll be like the Grand Old Duke of York Brendan and organize a march up Killiney Hill in support


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## so-crates (2 Mar 2015)

I do hope they enjoy their stay with the O'Donnell family - no doubt they will all get along peachily. I am sure that Brian would be more than happy to return the favour to other Land League members and perhaps even put his legal expertise at the disposal of the Land League!


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## Delboy (2 Mar 2015)

It's not Brian's home.....it's his kids!!!!! 

GUBU stuff this....the likes of O'Donnell wouldn't have let some of the fella's from the Land League wipe his shoes during the good old days. But needs must


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## Fisherman (2 Mar 2015)

You're being polite Del....  I'd suggest the O'Donnells would have been very careful where they urinated in the old days....


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## Dermot (2 Mar 2015)

This type of behaviour by the O'Donnell's only makes it more difficult for future borrowers as banks will tighten up on conditions etc not to mention that foreign banks are seeing how difficult and expensive it is to regain their security in this country. Not  really genuine heroes for future borrowers. Not much chance of new competition in the market with this type of carry on.


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## Gordon Gekko (2 Mar 2015)

I thought he lived in the UK...

Incredible...just incredible


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## Steven Barrett (2 Mar 2015)

Another example of people who were doing well enough in their field of expertise and decided to go into another area and ended up bust. 

Liam Carroll and Sean Quinn to name but two.


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## Dermot (2 Mar 2015)

SBarrett said:


> Another example of people who were doing well enough in their field of expertise and decided to go into another area and ended up bust.
> 
> Liam Carroll and Sean Quinn to name but two.



I agree and it is a very long list.


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## Bronte (3 Mar 2015)

Why is he barricading himself in a house that he claims he does not own.

He pulled a fast one on the bank who never knew about the 'trust' in which he apparently had signed away the property to his children.

That 'trust' failed.  As the court decided his children did not own it but one of his companies did.

He never told the bank about the trust even though the property was offered as security to the bank.

He declared that he lived in England and was entitled to UK bankruptcy, that didn't impress the English judges and so that too didn't succeed.

He also said he didn't wish to ever live in Ireland again, yet here he is back in the house he claimed he did not own.

And he's called in that crowd, Irish land league.  But his son has claimed otherwise in court yesterday.

Looks like the angle now is that the 'loans' were given by one legal arm of the bank and is being repossessed by a different legal arm of the bank.  Interesting to see how that will fair out.  And don't see how you can go back to court when your case has already gone all the way in the Supreme court.

A man that has such experience, dealt at the highest levels, knows exactly what multiple loans on different contenents are, knew when he signed over charges on all his assets is now claiming the bank deceived him.

There is something odd in the air in Killiney.  A different planet where you do not pay over those assets you voluntarily offered as security when your gambles do not pay off.

What is so stricking about all of this is how when you are worth so much you don't put aside money and assets that are unencumbered and that cannot be taken if things go spectacilaurly wrong.  Down to the last 10 million now and Supreme court is not cheap.  10 million buys a fine Dublin house, one of the best and a very very nice lifestyle.  And the ability to make money at the top of your two fields of expertise is still possible.

One good thing about all this.  Jerry Beads, who are you kidding.  O'Donnell is just a bigger version of you.


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## Brendan Burgess (3 Mar 2015)

Bronte said:


> Down to the last 10 million now and Supreme court is not cheap.



This is the bit that worries me most. If he is bankrupt, then he can take these cases and waste the lender's time and money.  They might get costs against him, but they just take their place in the queue. 

Brendan


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## Delboy (3 Mar 2015)

Jerry Beades on Morning Ireland this AM_ - the court order to vacate the house was against the children, and they have left. It wasn't against Brian himself and so he's staying as he has a right of residency in the house
_
Jerry of course fancied himself as a Property Developer, so he see's himself as Brian's equal and brother-in-arms!!! I'm sure Brian will remain as close to Jerry as they are now when this is all over!


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## Gerry Canning (3 Mar 2015)

If Mr O Donnell and land -league are not careful ,the Law of unintended consequences will apply!

It could end up that a Legal Precedent is set that will disadvantage people who genuinely believe they have right to remain in a house. People who, in laymans terms should have a right of tenure, may find that the dead hand of legal precedence puts them to the road.

I have a lot of sympathy for most people in a Repossession issue, but come on, even my sympathy is being faaaaar stretched.!

And as stated , if Mr O Donnell does appear to have a testable case ,what signal does it send to Risk Adverse Lenders?

And as stated , Law is for those who can afford to lose , or people like Mr O donnell who now has little to lose.
The rest of us can,t go to Law.
Yup....YOU COULDN,T WRITE the SCRIPT.


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## demoivre (3 Mar 2015)

Strange that O'Donnell didn't structure his business affairs in such a way that , should everything go pear shaped, he could legally hang on to the family home. I know  several people who have done just that.


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## Brendan Burgess (3 Mar 2015)

demoivre said:


> Strange that O'Donnell didn't structure his business affairs in such a way that , should everything go pear shaped, he could legally hang on to the family home.



If you are borrowing millions, the banks generally want security. If you have a home worth €30m, they want that. 

Brendan


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## Steven Barrett (3 Mar 2015)

demoivre said:


> Strange that O'Donnell didn't structure his business affairs in such a way that , should everything go pear shaped, he could legally hang on to the family home. I know  several people who have done just that.



Before the crash, property values had never gone down in Ireland. Developers were making massive amounts of money and very quickly too. Signing over the home was just seen as formality and they probably never once considered the possible consequences if things went wrong. 


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie


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## Brendan Burgess (3 Mar 2015)

SBarrett said:


> Before the crash, property values had never gone down in Ireland.




*Dublin property bubbles stretch back 300 years*
* Research shows there were worse crashes and recovery took centuries *


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## Gerry Canning (3 Mar 2015)

Brendan Burgess said:


> *Dublin property bubbles stretch back 300 years*
> * Research shows there were worse crashes and recovery took centuries *


Brendan ;

Stop it now , {recovery took centuries} ! . 7 years is enough !


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## demoivre (3 Mar 2015)

High Court has rejected an application by the O'Donnell children for an injunction to stop the repossession of their Killiney home.


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## Steven Barrett (3 Mar 2015)

Brendan Burgess said:


> *Dublin property bubbles stretch back 300 years*
> * Research shows there were worse crashes and recovery took centuries *



Don't believe everything you are told Steven


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## Gordon Gekko (3 Mar 2015)

This nonsense affects all of us. Foreign players are avoiding Ireland because of the uncertainty regarding security / repossession. That's allowing the current oligopoly to rape and pillage with ridiculous SVRs.


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## demoivre (5 Mar 2015)

demoivre said:


> Strange that O'Donnell didn't structure his business affairs in such a way that , should everything go pear shaped, he could legally hang on to the family home. I know  several people who have done just that.





Brendan Burgess said:


> If you are borrowing millions, the banks generally want security. If you have a home worth €30m, they want that.
> Brendan



Precisely which is why O Donnell should have done the borrowing and left the house with the missus !


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## Brendan Burgess (5 Mar 2015)

A good piece by Micheal Clifford in yesterday's Examiner

*Irony looms large in the siege of Gorse Hill*

At the height of the bubble, big shots in O’Donnell’s league used to enjoy flying a Tricolour on buildings they acquired in London, in a clownish gesture of reverse conquest.

Then, when the bubble burst, many, such as O’Donnell, fled to Old Blighty in a bid to avoid this jurisdiction’s more odious bankruptcy laws.

Back home, at the other end of the political spectrum, we have experienced socialists railing against a property tax, a tariff that has been a basic tenet of socialism since Karl Marx was in short trousers.

Then, this week, we had the marrying of an organisation that claims lineage to Michael Davitt, with a property owner who might have had more in common with Captain Boycott.

The so-called Land League’s defence of Gorse Hill was heavy with irony. As noted in the High Court on Monday, O’Donnell was “ultimately a member of the landlord class”. What would Davitt have made of it all?


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## Brendan Burgess (5 Mar 2015)

Vincent Browne was well worth watching. 

[broken link removed]

He went into Gorse Hill and walked around the grounds. 

Then he had Gerry Beades on the show.

Gerry described Gorse Hill as "bog standard" and the interior as"simplistic". 

The shocking thing is how much this is costing the taxpayer.

Brendan


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## demoivre (5 Mar 2015)

Gorse Hill is about as bog standard as O Donnell is a tenant cottier .


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## Brendan Burgess (6 Mar 2015)

I hadn't heard of the _eggshell principle _under which the Land League are taking a criminal action against Vincent Browne.  Apparently, John Martin of the New Land League has a thin skull and neck and so is suing for both physical and mental injury at the hands of Vincent Browne.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-new...-tv3-broadcaster-vincent-browne-31043331.html


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## moneybox (6 Mar 2015)

Brendan Burgess said:


> I hadn't heard of the _eggshell principle _under which the Land League are taking a criminal action against Vincent Browne.  Apparently, John Martin of the New Land League has a thin skull and neck and so is suing for both physical and mental injury at the hands of Vincent Browne.
> 
> http://www.independent.ie/irish-new...-tv3-broadcaster-vincent-browne-31043331.html



Thank you Brendan, I haven't read something as funny in a long time.


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## peteb (6 Mar 2015)

I wonder will Mr O'Donnell be representing his new buddy!


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## MrEarl (6 Mar 2015)

This situation is absolutely crazy.

Whatever sympathy you would have for a genuine hardship case, where a family with no income are being evicted from their modest family home for being unable to pay their Homeloan, this case is entirely different.

This house is by no means necessary, to provide a family home.  It is clearly a trophy asset and it's value could help reduce or settle the debt that appears legally due (based on previous court decisions, in this long running dispute).

Personally, if I were the judge, I'd now be offering the O'Donnells accomodation in our prison system, if they really want somewhere to live.


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## Delboy (6 Mar 2015)

peteb said:


> I wonder will Mr O'Donnell be representing his new buddy!


O'Donnell said yesterday in Court he knew nothing about Beades and friends, that they didn't speak for him. The Irish Courts system is being made a mockery of


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## Delboy (10 Mar 2015)

Great radio on the Pat Kenny show now....the O'Donnell children and Jerry Beades. Oh, how the other half think!!!


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## moneybox (10 Mar 2015)

Why are these peo


Delboy said:


> Great radio on the Pat Kenny show now....the O'Donnell children and Jerry Beades. Oh, how the other half think!!!



Why are these people getting so much air time, it makes me feel ill.  There are ordinary people out there devastated to be losing their homes and they having to listen to these so called privileged people crying into their china teacups because there are going to lose one of their trophy homes, how maddening is that. 

 If it has already been determined that the BOI owns the house in Gorse Hill why don't they just send in the bailiffs and reprocess it, what's all this continuing in and out of court caper about??


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## Delboy (10 Mar 2015)

Money talks


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## TRS30 (10 Mar 2015)

what money?? He/they are all bankrupt!


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## Delboy (10 Mar 2015)

I doubt very much that they are, in the sense of the word that you or I may understand.


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## Kerrigan (10 Mar 2015)

The family seem disheartened by all the media attention they are receiving.  Yeah right!  When I read the parents were not even living in Ireland and daddy was working my heart sank that bit further for the everyday Joe Soap that is struggling out there. 

That land league crowd should be ashamed of themselves.


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## Steven Barrett (10 Mar 2015)

Just watched the Vincent Borwne episode. This really is comical stuff. You'd think it was something out of Father Ted.


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## Brendan Burgess (10 Mar 2015)

SBarrett said:


> You'd think it was something out of Father Ted.



That is exactly what it is like

Brendan


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## thedaddyman (11 Mar 2015)

The Land League got the Gift Grub treatment yesterday

[broken link removed]


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## Brendan Burgess (11 Mar 2015)

That's great. They got your man with the dark glasses and the unlucky foot exactly right. 

Brendan


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## Gerry Canning (13 Mar 2015)

Best I heard was this .

( The way the O Donnells are acting , I feel sorry for the Banks)


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## Dermot (13 Mar 2015)

Why are the courts tolerating this nonsense. We have often read where the higher courts have refused to listen to some appeals.  Surely this carry on by the O'Donnell's is farcical.  I would have thought that they would have been in jail at this stage for squatting.  They are squatters fair and square.


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## Jim2007 (13 Mar 2015)

Gerry Canning said:


> Best I heard was this .
> 
> ( The way the O Donnells are acting , I feel sorry for the Banks)



And give that the taxpayer owns the banks, we need to be feeling sorry for ourselves!


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## Brendan Burgess (15 Apr 2015)

*[broken link removed]*

I wonder what the ECJ will say about that.


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## Gerry Canning (15 Apr 2015)

Must be the (Pinkie) in me but would Joe Soap get away with such playacting.
(Off with his head I say)


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## Bronte (15 Apr 2015)

Brendan Burgess said:


> *[broken link removed]*
> 
> I wonder what the ECJ will say about that.


 

It's the Supreme Court first.  That takes how long?  Years?


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## Delboy (15 Apr 2015)

Supreme Court might decide they don't believe his case is of sufficient legal importance or that no major act of injustice has already taken place, and therefore may not want to hear it.

The fact that he got another 2 weeks is just beyond belief.


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## demoivre (15 Apr 2015)

He's entitled to do what the law allows him to do. In fairness it's not a bad pad to be living rent free in .


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## Gerry Canning (15 Apr 2015)

demoivre said:


> He's entitled to do what the law allows him to do. In fairness it's not a bad pad to be living rent free in .


You are correct , proves the Law is an ass.
The word Law , passes itself off as justice.
Law is for big pockets .


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## mf1 (16 Apr 2015)

"You are correct , proves the Law is an ass."

No. It proves that the O'Donnells will use every available  opportunity open to them to try to foil and thwart the bank. They have a legal background and are better placed than most to do so. 

"The word Law , passes itself off as justice."

What does this even mean? Law encompasses the rules that society puts in place for their citizens to live by and observe. Law and justice are not mutually exclusive.

"Law is for big pockets"

You do a huge disservice to the many organisations that assist people - like FLAC, Coolock Community Law Centre, the Free Legal Aid scheme

mf


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## Bronte (16 Apr 2015)

demoivre said:


> He's entitled to do what the law allows him to do. In fairness it's not a bad pad to be living rent free in .


 
But he's living in the UK and paying rent there !  He even has his tomb paid for over there.


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## Bronte (16 Apr 2015)

mf1 said:


> "Law is for big pockets"
> 
> You do a huge disservice to the many organisations that assist people - like FLAC, Coolock Community Law Centre, the Free Legal Aid scheme


 
But we don't see FLAC down the courts helping people with repossession cases do we.  I've no idea why that is, but it most certainly would seem to be an unfair system whereby banks have teams of lawyers and ordinary people, not all, but most, have no legal representation.


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## mf1 (16 Apr 2015)

They may not be in Court but they are there in the background - and I did not mention MABS or IMHO

And most people in this position do not have a defence as in they do not owe the money, they have a reason why they cannot pay. That is a societal issue not a legal issue.

mf


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## Gerry Canning (17 Apr 2015)

mf1 said:


> "You are correct , proves the Law is an ass."
> 
> No. It proves that the O'Donnells will use every available  opportunity open to them to try to foil and thwart the bank. They have a legal background and are better placed than most to do so.
> 
> ...


I hear you .
............
We can trade verbiage on what is law and what is justice.
I have no doubt that Law and Justice should be anchored on Fair Play.
They are not so anchored.
It is instructive to watch the antics (in Law) on this case.
I do not do a huge disservice , nor would I dare to, nor would I want it perceived, on organisations such as FLAC,
Without them Joe Soap would be banjaxed and the disparity on access to Law would be worse.


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