We’ll still be in Gorse Hill this time next year, vows O’Donnell
BLAKE O’Donnell has defiantly claimed his family will still be living in Gorse Hill next year and insisted they won’t be ‘bullied’ by Bank of Ireland
His parents, Brian and Mary Patricia O’Donnell, lost their High Court appeal against their eviction from the Killiney mansion earlier this week.
The Court of Appeal has set a new deadline of midday on April 29 for the eviction – just 10 days away.
But speaking to Marian Finucane on RTÉ radio yesterday, Blake insisted the family would still be living in the house in a year’s time, despite the eviction order.
‘I do think we will be living in Gorse Hill next year, otherwise I wouldn’t be taking our cases.
‘And it’s a long road, the legal system is a long road. It’s very labour intensive, it’s very paper intensive and you have to take each step at a time.’
The bankrupt couple – who owe Bank of Ireland almost €70m – and their four adult children, Blake, Blaise, Alexandra and Bruce, are fighting the bank on multiple fronts in the courts.
Bank of Ireland is determined to take possession of the lavish home, which is worth €7m, as part of its attempt to recoup unpaid loans.
The 31-year-old solicitor said the bank had refused to sit down with the family to discuss the issue, instead choosing to drag them through the courts.
‘We’ve resolved as a family that we’re not going to be bul- lied – that’s basically it. If the bank wants to get judgment against us, bankrupt us, throw us out of our house, their paperwork has to be right and I’m afraid it isn’t right. ‘We’re going to defend our position and our rights under the law and under the Constitution and under the European Convention on Human Rights, and we’re just not going to be pushed around.’ Gorse Hill is a 9,000sq.ft mansion on Vico Road, Killiney, that sits on 1.25 acres overlooking the sea.
It boasts an outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court, an indoor gym and a sauna.
It was the home of Mr and Mrs O’Donnell from 2000 until about 2011, when they moved to England and transferred it to their four children.
In December 2011, Bank of Ireland secured a summary judgment of €71.5m against the couple.
They couldn’t pay, so the bank sought possession of Gorse Hill, but the couple claimed the house was left in trust for their children.
The children took the case to the High Court and subsequently the Supreme Court but failed in their bid to stop the bank taking over the property.
They were ordered out of the house by March 2 this year but refused to leave, prompting the High Court to grant a trespass injunction against them.
Mr O’Donnell went to the Court of Appeal but his appeal was dismissed by the three-judge panel on Thursday. They have now been ordered to leave the house by noon on April 29 but the family plans to appeal again.
The RTÉ presenter questioned whether Blake should get on with his life rather than spending so much time in the courts.
‘And how are we meant to get on with our lives when the bank won’t speak with us?’ he said.
‘I’ve written letters to the banks requesting meetings to try sort these difficulties out.’
The solicitor was asked if he thought his family had been made an example of by Bank of Ireland.
‘I think we obviously were, yeah. There are plenty of individuals who owe vastly more amounts of money and they haven’t been dragged through the courts backwards and they haven’t had all their private information handed out to the newspapers just for the purpose of humiliating us,’ he said.
Blake suggested the bank went after his father because he was ‘a bit of a soft target’ and a ‘gentleman’ whom they could push around.
‘They probably underestimated him a bit,’ he said.
The O’Donnells began investing in property in 2000 and amassed a portfolio in Dublin, London, Stockholm and Washington DC.
Their properties were once valued at nearly €1.1bn but the couple had amassed huge debts of about €900m in the process.
When the recession hit, the value of their portfolio plummeted and they were left with crippling debts.
‘We’ve resolved we’re not going to be bullied’ ‘Dad was a bit of a soft target, a gentleman’