The High Court has made an order restricting Fianna Fáil activist Joe Burke from involvement in the affairs of any company for five years unless certain capital funding conditions are met.
However a stay was put on the order for 21 days as Mr Burke, who is also chairman of the Dublin Port Company, intends to appeal.
Mr Justice Kevin Feeney made the restriction order under section 150 of the Companies Acts. He said on Wednesday it was merited because Mr Burke had not acted responsibly and was in clear breach of the Act, over aspects of the conduct of the affairs of his building company, JH Burke Sons Builders Ltd, which was established in 1995 and wound up in late 2006.
The judge adjourned the making of an actual order until today.
The section 150 application was brought by Kenneth Fennell, the liquidator of Mr Burke's company. Mr Burke argued the order was not warranted as there was no allegation of dishonesty and he genuinely believed he could raise adequate finance to help the company, whose main business was pub refurbishment, overcome losses sustained following the March 2004 smoking ban.
The judge found Mr Burke had acted irresponsibly in not arranging for the preparation and filing of accounts, including audited accounts, for the company for 2004 and 2005; in failing to inquire about the true financial position of the company; and in allowing the company to trade and build up tax debts when it was insolvent.