Northern Ireland

Mick Wallace agrees to hand over keys of Dublin home after three months

MEP Mick Wallace
MEP Mick Wallace MEP Mick Wallace

MEP Mick Wallace has told a judge he would hand back the keys of his repossessed Dublin home if he is allowed to spend Christmas in it.

Mr Wallace's lawyers phoned their client after Judge Jacqueline Linnane told them if he wanted a stay to celebrate Christmas at his Clontarf property, they would have to ring him and see if he was prepared to co-operate with the bank and hand back the keys.

He told his legal team he was and was granted a stay on the possession order for three months.

Earlier yesterday, Judge Linnane was told that three years ago Mr Wallace had threatened the bank with an ultimatum, in which he allegedly said he would burn his home and have to be carried out of it in a coffin if they did not give him a new loan to buy an apartment in the Temple Bar area of Dublin.

After granting the bank possession of Mr Wallace's Clontarf home, the judge was asked for a three month-stay on the order.

She insisted on a phone call being made to Mr Wallace to see if he would hand back the keys.

Shortly afterwards, his barrister Jack Tchrakian told the court he could give an undertaking on Mr Wallace's behalf that he would hand back the keys in March.

He also said "people say things in stressful situations" in relation to the allegations about Mr Wallace's threatening to burn the house.

The Wexford politician previously hit the headlines when he made controversial revelations in relation to the Nama scandal.

In 2015, Mr Wallace rocked Stormont after he claimed a £7 million offshore fund linked to the Nama deal was earmarked for a northern politician or party.

His explosive claims under Dail parliamentary privilege sparked a criminal investigation and inquiries on both sides of the border.