Michael Flatley offeres to redeem €5.6m loan at centre of Castlehyde mansion dispute

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Michael Flatley Offeres To Redeem €5.6M Loan At Centre Of Castlehyde Mansion Dispute
The loan was made to Mr Flatley's Blackbird Film Productions Ltd by Novellus Finance Ltd which says there has been default on repayment and which Mr Flatley denies. Photo: PA
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High Court reporters

Michael Flatley is prepared to redeem a €5.6m loan at the centre of a dispute with a lender, the Commercial Court has heard.

The loan was made to Mr Flatley's Blackbird Film Productions Ltd by Novellus Finance Ltd which says there has been default on repayment and which Mr Flatley denies.

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Mr Flatley provided a guarantee for the loan on the strength of the value of his Castlehyde mansion in Fermoy, Co Cork.

As a result of the alleged default, Novellus appointed a receiver over the property which Mr Flatley has challenged.

The court was told however by Ronnie Hudson BL, for Mr Flatley, that while his client had proposed redeeming the loan in full, there was now a dispute over what the redemption figure is with Novellus claiming almost €1 million more than the Flatley side say is due.

Mr Flatley, best known as a star in Riverdance and Lord in the Dance, also wrote, directed and starred in a 2022 film called Blackbird.

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When Novellus appointed a receiver over Castlehyde, Mr Flatley and Blackbird sought and obtained an injunction preventing the receiver from taking any steps to take possession of or sell Castlehyde pending further order.

Separately, Mr Flatley has brought High Court proceedings against a building company and his insurers over alleged toxins found in his Castlehyde mansion after it underwent repair due to a fire in 2016.

The 66-year-old claimed that he, his wife Niamh and their son Michael St James, cannot reside at the protected structure, in which he said has invested over €29m since he acquired it in 1999, as it is unsafe for human habitation.

In the proceedings against Novellus, its director William McManus and receiver Kieran Wallace, Mr Flatley and Blackbird claim the defendants are legally prevented from enforcing the security on the loan. The claims are denied.

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On Monday, Mr Hudson told  Mr Justice Mark Sanfey that after Mr Flatley offered to redeem the loan, the Novellus lawyers put forward a redemption figure which the Flatley side disputes.

Novellus also proposed that the Flatley side lodge €500,000 in an escrow account to cover legal and receiver costs pending the hearing of the action.

Mr Hudson said in effect what Novellus was suggesting that his side provide €500,000 in security for costs in circumstances where no order for costs has been made in the case which is still continuing.

Kelly Smith SC, for the Novellus side, said what had been put forward by her clients was a practical solution whereby any disputed monies could be lodged in court but it now appeared that Mr Hudson was challenging her clients' contractual entitlements.

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Mr Justice Sanfey said his understanding was that the disputed portion of the money owed could be thrashed out in the proceedings but he hoped the parties would be sensible in their approach to it.

He was glad to hear about the proposal by Mr Flatley to redeem the loan as that would dispose of most of the controversy in the case but if there was "a blip" over the way to deal with the disputed amount the parties should strive to engage with one another on this.

The repayment proposal would  "change the landscape of these proceedings completely", he said.

The judge also gave directions to the parties to file affidavits in relation to a separate matter pertaining to the preservation of CCTV footage at Castlehyde at the time the receivers' agents turned up at the property in early December and which prompted the injunction application.

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