Courts

Michael Flatley prepared to pay off full €5.6m loan at centre of row over Cork mansion

Dispute remains over redemption figure, with Novellus claiming almost €1m more than Riverdance star says is due

Michael Flatley provided a guarantee for the loan on the strength of the value of his Castlehyde mansion in Fermoy, Co Cork. Photograph: Tom Honan
Michael Flatley provided a guarantee for the loan on the strength of the value of his Castlehyde mansion in Fermoy, Co Cork. Photograph: Tom Honan
Mon Jan 13 2025 - 17:07

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

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.

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

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

When Novellus appointed a receiver over Castlehyde, Mr Flatley and Blackbird Film Productions 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 Castlehyde after it underwent repairs following a fire in 2016.

The 66-year-old claimed he, his wife Niamh and their son Michael St James cannot reside at the protected structure, in which he said has invested more than €29 million since acquiring 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.

[ Michael Flatley’s Castlehyde mansion does not have adequate insurance cover, receiver claims ]

Mr Hudson on Monday told Mr Justice Mark Sanfey that after Mr Flatley offered to redeem the loan, the Novellus lawyers put forward the disputed redemption figure.

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 Novellus was in effect suggesting that his side provide €500,000 in security for costs in circumstances where no order for costs has been made in the ongoing case.

Kelley 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.

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 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.