The High Court has ruled that the wife of a former Government Minister doesn'’t have an “arguable defence” to AIB’s case for a €1.6 million euro guarantee.
Deirdre Yates, whoÂ’ is married to Newstalk broadcaster Ivan Yates, had tried to argue she wasn'Â’t made aware of the full risks involved.
Six years ago, Deirdre Yates agreed to guarantee €1.6m of a €6.7m loan to Celtic Bookmakers Ltd., which went into liquidation in 2012.
She was a director of the company, but her husband Ivan, a former Fine Gael Minister for Agriculture, managed it from day to day.
She signed off on the guarantee which specifically named the family home in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford as security.
The bank demanded repayment in 2014, but in her challenge to the application for summary judgement, the primary school teacher claimed she wasn'’t aware her house was at risk when she signed the papers, and accused AIB of not advising her to get independent legal advice –a claim described by Mr. Justice Seamus Noonan as “patently incorrect”.
He then ruled in favour of the bank and put matters back until next week.
Our Courts Correspondent Frank Greaney reports:
