Irish dancer Michael Flatley has saved his Co Cork mansion after repaying a multi-million-euro loan he had taken out against it.
Flatley had used his Castlehyde home in Fermoy as security for the €5.7 million loan.
His company, Blackbird Film Productions, which made the spy movie "Blackbird" starring himself, took out the €67,000-a-month loan in 2023 from Dublin-based Novellus Finance.
However, Novellus alleged that the company defaulted on the loan – a claim Flatley has denied.
As a result of the alleged default, Novellus appointed a receiver over the property.
The High Court heard last week that Flatley, 66, was flying into Dublin at the weekend to sign the necessary documents for the refinance deal to go ahead.
Full redemption amount
Judge Sanfey ruled on Monday that he would give the Flatley side until 12:30 pm yesterday to pay the full redemption amount.
When 12:30 pm came, Novellus’s barrister, Kelley Smith, said authorisation for the transfer of funds had been given at 7:50 pm on Monday.
She said payment was made to her client’s solicitors, Arthur Cox, and the money was received yesterday morning.
She said it "fell slightly short of what was the relevant sum," as it did not take into account the costs of three court appearances over two days, and the 62 emails she said were sent on Monday relating to documentation.
Flatley’s solicitor had since undertaken that those costs, of around €9,000, would be paid, she told the court.
She said a portion of "disputed monies" from the overall redemption fee would be lodged in court, pending the resolution of that dispute between the two sides.
Michael Flatley in 2019. (Getty Images)
Legal costs
Ronnie Hudson, Flatley’s barrister, said that those dispute sums included €793,000 in legal fees claimed by Novellus and €186,000 in legal fees claimed by the receiver, totalling almost €1 million.
Separately, Ms. Smith applied to the court for Flatley to pay the legal costs incurred by Novellus in opposing his injunction to restrain the receiver from taking over or trying to sell Castlehyde.
Mr. Hudson said he had no instructions yet to respond to that application. Judge Mark Sanfey adjourned the issue of costs until Friday, but said that if he had to rule on costs, he would also have to give his judgment in relation to Novellus’s application to lift the injunction.
He said he had held off delivering that judgment in the hope the parties would come to an agreement between them.
Mr. Hudson responded that Flatley, who has alleged bad faith and malice against the lender, had asked Novellus to enter mediation three times and that he would extend that offer again.
Ms. Smith responded: "I think we are going backwards, unfortunately." She said Novellus would like the judge to deliver his judgment.
"I think we are going backwards"
Business tycoons Luke Comer and Maurice Regan were said earlier this year to be poised to help Flatley and his company, Blackbird Film Productions, redeem the loan.
Flatley has reportedly put up part of his whiskey business, Flatley Whiskey, as collateral for the new loan.
Outside court, it has been reported that Flatley flew into Dublin from Monaco on Friday with his close friend Prince Albert of Monaco, on the royal’s private jet.
He met with Brian Comer, the businessman and brother of Luke Comer, in the Shelbourne Hotel before attending the Six Nations Championship rugby game between Ireland and France at the Aviva Stadium.
Separately, the Commercial Court is handling a case that has been taken by Flatley, in which he claims that Castlehyde is no longer safe to live in.
The defendants in that case include his former insurers and Austin Newport Group Limited, the alleged main contractor that carried out over € 4 million worth of remediation works on Castlehyde after a fire in 2016.
The dancer, who is battling cancer, claims those works did not deal with toxic "carcinogenic" PVC residue or chloride contamination caused by smoke damage from the fire, which was present on the walls and furniture of the property.
He claims he needs €30 million to make the property safe for himself and his family.
Here's some aerial footage of Michael Flatley's Castlehyde property in Cork:
* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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