High Court petition against Munster Joinery offshoot

THIS month the High Court will hear a petition by a Millsteet man to wind up a key subsidiary of Munster Joinery in Ballydesmond, which is a huge Duhallow employer.

The petition is being taken by Dermot Corkery, a former employee and shareholder in Munster Joinery, against Jurras, a group subsidiary and its directors Donal and Noreen Ring.

Mr Corkery is alleging his interests as a shareholder in the group have been oppressed. He had worked at Munster Joinery for two decades and left in 2014.

He took proceedings against Jurras in June 2015 and has secured extensive discovery documents against the company, which makes windows and doors.

In earlier proceedings, Munster Joinery claimed Mr Corkery stopped being a shareholder once he was no longer employed by the group and challenged his right to take a shareholder oppression case. However, Mr Corkery won that action.

Judge Carmel Stewart noted in her judgment, that Mr Corkery had raised “a host of issues” which included the manner in which he was paid by Munster Joinery and whether the dividends actually amounted to commissions and potential “future tax liabilities” for Mr Corkery and the company.

Munster Joinery had accumulated profits of €12.8 million at the end of 2014. The hugely successful company was founded in 1973 by Donal and the late Paddy Ring.