IRELAND'S largest farm, near Lifford, Co Donegal, has been put up for sale by the receiver, three years after its owners defaulted on a £3.5 million bank loan.
The sale of the Grianan estate by the receiver, a Dublin accountant, Mr Tom Grace, heralds the end of a protracted legal battle by Mr Robert Graham and his two sons, Eric and Robert, to hold on to the farm they bought in 1989.
National Irish Bank, which lent the money to buy the farm, has incurred liabilities of up to £1,000 a day since the loan was made. The bank declined to comment on the case yesterday.
The sale of the 3,000 acre farm, a milk quota of 415,000 gallons, a lake and "a number" of private residences, was advertised in yesterday's Irish Times. The selling agent, P.B. Gunne, said it expects the estate to fetch about £3 million.
The Donegal county sheriff is expected to issue a possession order shortly on the Grahams who are still living on the farm.
The final obstacle to the sale was cleared last month when the Supreme Court ruled against the family for the second time. Legal costs incurred by the Grahams in their 3 1/2 year legal battle are thought to exceed £250,000.
The family previously farmed in Co Monaghan before moving to the estate on the Inishowen peninsula. In 1993 the High Court granted the bank an order for possession to sell the lands. Mr Justice Costello said that, for unexplained reasons, a very serious default occurred in agreed repayments.
In 1994 the Supreme Court ordered Mr Graham's sons and their wives to leave their family homes within three months. The family had claimed the bank's application for possession was void under the Family Home Protection Act 1976 because a dwelling on the land constituted the family home, even though Eric Graham and his wife, Charis, had not occupied the premises.
However, Mr Justice Finlay refused to accept this extended definition of the family home and found against the Grahams.
Later that year counsel for the bank claimed in the High Court that the family was attempting to evade a court order not to reduce their assets below £3.5 million and confining them to selling milk to certain creameries in the State. This was being done by setting up a company using relatives and wives as directors to sell milk in Northern Ireland, it was claimed.
Also in 1994, an order of attachment was sought in the High Court to jail Eric and Robert Graham for contempt of court following an alleged assault on an assistant liquidator appointed by the court to Agri Ware Ltd, of which the brothers were directors.
