The High Court has decided that AIB is entitled to a €1.6m summary judgement against the wife of former Government Minister Ivan Yates.
Deirdre Yates signed a guarantee towards a €6.7m loan, but said she wasn’t aware it would allow the bank go after her family home.
Deirdre and Ivan Yates weren’t in court for today’s judgement. She’d resisted AIB’s application for the summary judgement because she wanted it to go to a full hearing.
In March 2010, she received a letter from AIB’s business manager outlining the details of the loan to Celtic Bookmakers Ltd. And the fact it would be secured by the family home on 1.3 acres in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford if it wasn’t paid back.The letter advised her to obtain independent legal advice before signing it.
In January 2011, the company went into receivership and bankruptcy proceedings were initiated against both Mr. Yates, who’s now a broadcaster at Newstalk, and his wife. Ivan Yates was declared bankrupt in the UK in August 2012.
His wife Deirdre claimed she wasn’t aware of the risks involved in signing the guarantee, but after deciding she had no defence, Mr. Justice Seamus Noonan said the bank was entitled to a summary judgement.
