Breffni Building Leder Plant debt enforcement High Court Garda investigation, Digi Mart USA News (Ireland): A High Court judge has refused to halt enforcement of a €314,868 debt pending the outcome of a Garda investigation into an alleged incident in which two unidentified men claiming to be “republicans” sought debt recovery in a “threatening” manner.
Breffni Building and Civil Engineering Group had sought the stay in High Court proceedings taken against it by Leder Plant Ltd over the debt. The judge, Michael Twomey, said the case was “very unusual”.
On one hand, it was a straightforward application for leave to enforce an adjudicator’s July 2026 decision that Breffni owes Leder €314,868, plus VAT, for building works completed at Momentum Business Park, Naas. Leder’s original claim for those works was about €563,326, he noted.
On the other hand, Breffni wanted enforcement stayed because of a “frightening incident” at the home of one of its directors two days after the adjudicator’s decision. Breffni claimed two unidentified men, who said they were “republicans”, sought to recover “in a threatening manner” the sum of €563,000 that they said was due to Leder.
Nora O’Gara Flynn and her husband Rory Flynn are both directors of Breffni. O’Gara Flynn was alone at home at the time, the judge said.
In a sworn statement, she said the men communicated with her via the video and security gate. She said a male voice said they were “looking for Rory Flynn” and that there was “a dispute between Rory and Dermot Finn”, a director of Leder, who was owed €563,000 “and we’re here to sort it”.
O’Gara Flynn said that when she asked the men to leave contact information, they said they “don’t leave contacts or anything like that” and were “here to sort money … owed to Dermot Finn from Leder Construction”.
O’Gara Flynn and her husband made statements to gardaí, and an investigation is under way, the judge said. Gardaí had told her the alleged conduct fell under the offence of making an unwarranted demand with menaces and, because of alleged paramilitary involvement, the matter had been escalated to the Special Detective Unit and was being treated “very seriously”.
Counsel for Breffni submitted that Leder had bypassed the Construction Contracts Act 2013, had sought a parallel, allegedly illegal track of enforcement via physical duress, and that the court should not order enforcement pending the Garda investigation.
The judge said this was a “very serious” allegation to make in written submissions, particularly as Finn had provided sworn evidence denying any knowledge of the men’s actions and denying they were carried out on his behalf or on behalf of Leder. It was important to note that no charges have been brought against Finn or Leder and the matter is at investigation stage, he said.
Breffni, the judge also said, did not dispute that it owed €314,868 to Leder for the building works, and the adjudicator’s decision was binding on it. Refusing enforcement would be a “significant” restriction on the right of a builder to recover funds for work actually done, he said.
There was no direct prejudice to Breffni from refusing a stay, as it accepted the money was owed, he said. There was also no evidence of how payment of the debt would prejudice the investigation or any future prosecutions.
While agreeing with Breffni’s counsel that the alleged conduct was “an affront to the rule of law”, the judge said this did not mean a lawfully due debt to Leder should go unpaid. “The rule of law involves guilt being proven, not assumed,” he said.
The rule of law was upheld by the continuing criminal investigation being separate from enforcement of a debt owed to Leder, which is not currently charged with any offence, he concluded.
