A woman who went into debt to start her son in business faces the prospect of being put out of her home of 48 years by the Irish Nationwide Building Society.
Mr Harry Connolly, counsel for the society, told the Circuit Civil Court yesterday that Mrs Myra Fitzgerald (59) had taken out a £42,000 mortgage on her house in 1996. Arrears were now £8,000 and the monthly repayment of £468 had not been met since August last year. He said the building society was seeking an order for possession of the property.
Mr Bill Stokes, solicitor for Mrs Fitzgerald, of Crumlin Road, Dublin, described her predicament as "tragic". She had mortgaged her home so that her son, Derek, could buy a milk round and float. In September last year Derek had been involved in an accident and had been unable to work since.
"He was the victim of an uninsured driver who had stolen a bread van and, in a vain attempt to save his business, he had to employ milk roundsmen," Mr Stokes said. He eventually had to sell his milk round.
Mr Stokes told Judge Michael White there was "light at the end of the tunnel" for Mrs Fitzgerald. Her son was pursuing a claim for damages for personal injuries against the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland and hoped to be in a position to redeem the mortgage.
Mr Stokes said Mrs Fitzgerald had already put her house on the market and had received an offer of £110,000. But he felt her home could still be saved and asked for an adjournment of six months.
Judge White adjourned the application for a fortnight to allow Mr Derek Fitzgerald to furnish the court with evidence of the merits and status of his damages claim, and an indication from his solicitors as to whether a conditional undertaking to discharge the mortgage out of the proceeds of his claim would be forthcoming.