VETERAN Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne, his wife and their two daughters are being sued for €1.2m over a loan they took out from Bank of Scotland Ireland (BOSI) ten years ago.
Gay, 83, who is currently battling cancer, has been taken to court by Feniton Property Finance DAC along with his wife Kathleen Watkins and daughters Susan and Crona.
Feniton allege that the Byrnes – who run the property syndicate Clonskeagh Partnership as a family – failed to pay back a €1million loan from BOSI in August 2007.
BOSI are not involved in the case as Feniton purchased the loan from the bank in November 2015.
The firm are now seeking €1.226million from the Irish TV legend and his family.
In a statement to the High Court in Dublin, Feniton said the Byrnes acquired the loan to invest the money into the Quinlan Private CERDII Fund.
The six-year loan – which the firm claim the Byrne’s Clonskeagh Partnership failed to repay – expired in 2013.
In April of this year, Feniton says it demanded that the Byrnes repay the full amount of the loan.
It claims that the Byrnes failed to do so and are now seeking its €1.226m judgement against them.
The case was admitted to the Commercial Court by Mr Justice Brian McGovern and will return before the High Court in January.
Gay’s wife Kathleen recently told of how her husband is “going through a difficult stage” as he continues treatment for prostate cancer.
“He had been on chemotherapy and then they decided he needed the chemo drip treatment,” she told the Irish Mirror.
“It takes its toll.”
Gaybo will return to our TV screens later this year for the 14th series of The Meaning Of Life – which has previously featured Stephen Fry, Dolores Keane, Joan Burton and Majella O'Donnell.
