In the witness box, John Magnier appeared nonplussed about the extent of his wealth; money was only his way of “keeping the score”.
He left school at 15, he told a rapt and packed Commercial Court. Therefore, he wasn’t familiar with a lot of legal jargon. All that stuff he left to his experts.
“Who are these experts?” asked barrister Martin Hayden, representing the Barne Estate owners. “They’re too numerous to mention,” was the response.
Mr Magnier hoped his second day of evidence in his court case over his alleged purchase of the Barne Estate in Co Tipperary for €15 million would be his final day of ever giving evidence in court.
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At the heart of the dispute is whether an enforceable sale took place when Mr Magnier shook hands with auctioneer John Stokes and the owners of the Barne Estate, Richard Thomson-Moore and his wife Anna, on August 22nd, 2023. The meeting took place at Mr Magnier’s Coolmore home in Co Tipperary and he thought he had a deal.
Mr Hayden, senior counsel for the Thomson-Moores, mixed flattery with a forensic dissection of the nature of the disputed Barne Estate deal.
“Congratulations, you have been a very successful businessman,” he offered by way of his opening gambit.
“I have had good days and bad days,” Mr Magnier responded.
Mr Hayden continued: “If it was a profit-and-loss account, your good days would outweigh the bad ones by a reasonable margin. Is that so?”
“I’ve been fortunate,” said Mr Magnier.
“You have a world-class establishment in Coolmore. In essence, would you say you are in the category of billionaire with your overall assets?” continued Mr Hayden.
“I hope so,” Mr Magnier responded.
Later Mr Hayden suggested Mr Magnier is a “very intelligent man”. The star witness was having none of it: “That will get nowhere with me. If I was this intelligent, why would I need all these people around me?”
The people he referred to were the solicitors and tax experts.
“Are you trying to rile me? You’re doing a good job,” he said at one stage to Mr Hayden. On another occasion, he accused Mr Hayden of treating him like a parrot by making him say the same things over and over again.
Mr Magnier denied he purchased 20,000 acres of land in Co Tipperary but admitted he did not know exactly how much land he owned.
Mr Hayden posited to him that he had acquired a huge property portfolio at home and abroad. He asked whether he was really suggesting he did not know the meaning of the phrase “subject to contract”.
Stressing again that he left school at 15, Mr Magnier responded: “I haven’t a good education. I employ people to do things on my behalf. It is what it is.
“I don’t understand this legal jargon as I should, but that’s the reality. I have people better than me looking after it.” Solicitors, he said, “cost enough, you do have faith in them”.
Much of the evidence on day two of the case focused on the nature of the sale. Mr Magnier was asked whether he was buying the land or the company that owned the Barne Estate when he offered €15 million for it.
Mr Magnier said it was “either/or”, and he had an open mind about it. Mr Hayden asked Mr Magnier if he would still pay €15 million for the company if it transpired it had debts.
“I would leave it to the experts. You are putting hypothetical questions to me,” said Mr Magnier.
The barrister countered: “You are trying to convince people that you never made a decision in your life. We both know that is not true. Why do you need an expert to decide?”
Mr Hayden said the option to buy the company rather than just the land only emerged in September when it was clear that an exclusivity agreement to buy the land had lapsed. Mr Magnier, therefore, had no enforceable contract to buy the land, the lawyer said.
The case continues.
