Storming the Irish Castle

What would you do if opposing forces seized your castle, left it go to wrack and ruin for nearly a decade, and try to sell it out from under you in the meantime? With your title deeds held firmly in your gauntlet, you would storm the castle and retake it, right? Well, a man’s home is his castle as they say, and this is exactly what my uncle in Ireland has attempted.

In 2006 my uncle, John Ryan with my aunt Breda, and my cousin, John Noel Ryan, and another couple, Michelle Burke and William Buck, bought beautiful new homes on the same estate in Ard na Deirge near Killaloe, County Clare. The week they were to take possession and move into their homes, they were in for a rude shock: the building developer had suddenly declared they were in financial difficulty and skipped the country, taking everyone’s money with them. AIB, an Irish bank, quickly swooped in and appointed a receiver, KPMG, to oversee the liquidation of the estate, which in turn locked down the houses already bought. They wasted no time in erecting barriers plus installing cameras and loudspeakers Big Brother fashion to deter any trespassers from coming on to the properties. The estate was then sold to another developer, and the houses, that were already sold, were left in legal limbo. The new developer has done nothing to resolve the issue.

My uncle and cousin have clear title to their homes, but have never been given the keys, and have been kept off the properties. In fact, they discovered that the personal property that my cousin had moved in, items such as his dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, refrigerator, down to the taps for the water faucets, had all been stripped! Robbed in broad daylight!

To make matters worse, my uncle is still paying a bridging loan he took out to purchase the new house. Between both houses, my uncle and cousin have spent over €600,000 in purchasing them plus all the legal fees this has racked up. My cousin is paying a mortgage on the house he cannot enter, and is paying rent for the apartment he is living in. Michelle and William are also paying a mortgage on their house, plus paying rent for the residence they currently live in as they, like my uncle and cousin, cannot move into their property.

For seven years they have waited and have used all the legal channels to claim their own properties, until finally, my uncle had figured it was time to do something. Giving them one last chance, he went to the estate agent that handled the initial sale of the properties, he showed them his title and deeds to the property and asked for the keys. As the legal owner, he had every right to have the keys. They said they did not have them and did not know who did. That was the last straw. He next went to the Guards, the Irish police, with his deeds in hand and informed them of his plan of action~ he was the legal owner of the house, he was illegally kept from it, and was now planning to take up residency and claim what was his. As a civil matter, the Guards did not see this was an issue that involved them and did not try to stop him.

On July 1, 2013, my uncle moved furniture in and has claimed Squatter’s Rights on his own home! Watched by the security teams and boomed at by a voice over the loudspeakers to leave the property since he was ‘trespassing’, my uncle paid no attention, and is in the processes of having all the locks changed. The first week he had no electricity or running water, but arranged to have a generator brought to him later.

His story has hit the national news in Ireland, a country that has been devastated by the international economic and housing crises. Angered by the banks and their billion euro bailouts while the little people get shafted and their homes repossessed, the people are on my uncle’s side. The Irish are particularly enraged against AIB at any rate as a scandal has just broken out detailing how the managers of that bank laughed to each other and made jokes wondering how much they should ask the Irish government for a bailout, a government that was solvent with a surplus in revenue until the banks came with their begging bowls in 2008 and helped to crash the Irish economy. The Irish government is now in hoc to the burning red tape and demands of the IMF thanks to the likes of them, and the population is furious. Crippled with increasing taxes and job cuts to pay for it all, I am surprised they are not getting ready to light the torches, heat the tar and open up their feather pillows and douse the bankers royally.

In my uncle’s situation, the very idea that they would suggest no sale had been completed when the money had been handed over and ownership papers on the property were issued. How can he be held responsible for the actions of the AIB bank or the developer, who absconded? After all, he had completed his side of the contract, and the Irish government issues a bond to protect the rights of home purchasers. The property has been neglected for seven years, what happened to their new houses in that time? Not to mention whoever holds the keys are responsible for the loss of the personal property my cousin had installed in his house. Have the laws of Ireland been reduced to complete dysfunction whereupon the people of Ireland can no longer occupy their own property? Is tyranny and oppression once more rearing its ugly head in Ireland? What happened to the island of Saints and Scholars? We would suggest it has become the island of demons, thieves and corruption. Has Ireland now joined the One World Order where countries are run by godless governments and godless laws? A very sad world marching to the anthem of Hell.

In my uncle’s case, was AIB bank hoping to sit on this property until the statute of limitations ran out and then sell the properties out from under them all without so much as a ‘by your leave’? No action was taken by AIB bank or the receiver to resolve this issue until my uncle decided drastic situations required drastic measures. This may bring matters to some resolution and he will get his day in court.

With the publicity he is receiving, plus all the scathing publicity AIB has already received, it is obvious that the bank and the receiver are already up a creek without a paddle and will have to do something, if only to get him off their backs! Currently, my uncle is stilled on point duty at the house, doing some badly needed cleaning and weeding since the place was left neglected all this time. The Guards have not evicted him, and said they would not do anything unless they had a court order. Clare county council has come to the rescue and have set up temporary amenities until the legal issue of the property has been sorted out. So far, he has not heard from AIB or the receiver KPMG. Keep up the good fight, we’re with you all the way!