Money lender has his licence renewed

September 1982

A Castlebridge money lender had his licence renewed by Justice Dermot Dunleavy at a special sitting of Wexford District Court, despite objections from customers.

[NAME WITHELD] was successful in his application for renewal of the money lender’s licence, which he has held for a number of years.

During the hearing of the case, Inspector T. Conneellly introduced evidence from three customers of the applicant.

One customer claimed the applicant had harassed him over repayments on a loan, and had threatened to tell both his mother and his boss.

On one occasion, he had followed him on the street looking for money, he said.

Another customer told the court, in reply to Inspector Conneely, that she had given her children’s allowance book to the applicant and that he had collected the money as monthly payments on a loan she had received.

She made it clear that she was not objecting to the granting of the applicant’s licence. She had willingly given him the allowance book. In fact, she found this method of payment more convenient, she said.

The court heard that the applicant had been refused payment on the book on the last occasion. A postmistress gave evidence to say she had refused to pay him because ‘he was not the right person to get it’.

The applicant had threatened to go to a higher authority to complain, she said.

Another witness said that the applicant had a tendency to shout at people and ‘make a show’ of them. On one occasion, when she had difficulty making repayments, he had gone out on the street and shouted back at her.

When her husband became unemployed, she had difficulty paying the £40 per week that was due to the applicant, but he refused to come to an alternative arrangement with her.

The applicant told the court that he had never received a complaint in four years of business.

His loan to the first witness was not a business transaction, he said. He knew the man’s family and had given him the loan interest free. But he had been forced to seek a decree against the witness for non-payment of the money.

In reply to Inspt. Conneely, the man said he agreed he had a reputation for being aggressive, but this was more a matter of personality than anything else.

Commenting that the only unsavoury aspect of the applicant’s conduct was the taking of the children’s allowance book from the customer, Justice Dermot Dunleavy held that the applicant was entitled to the licence.