Former music producer and entrepreneur Sharon Browne has lost her Stillorgan, Co Dublin, home to a bank on foot of mortgage debts of more than €390,000, including €204,000 payment arrears.
The 61-year-old, who created top international group Celtic Woman, and male version Celtic Thunder with Phil Coulter, did not turn up in court to fight for her home, Dublin County Registrar Patricia Hickey was told when she granted the possession order.
Barrister Shaula Connaughton-Deeny, who made the application on behalf of Everyday Finance, told Hickey she still had not appeared despite having been told her home was at stake.
Hickey said her court and the bank itself had gone out of their way to keep Browne fully informed about the progress of the proceedings. On her instructions, Everyday Finance had sent Browne a final warning about the hearing for possession of her principal private residence at 70 Coolnevaun, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Connaughton-Deeny, who appeared with Ivor Fitzpatrick Solicitors for the bank, said the bank had, throughout lengthy correspondence, offered Browne a proposed alternative payment scheme and, on another occasion, a tailored potential solution.
The bank’s senior assistant manager, Margaret Hartigan, told the court in written evidence that Browne had been told on several occasions of her outstanding debt and failed repayments, eventually totalling €391,608.
Browne’s original loan of €650,000 had been taken out with EBS Building Society in May 2006, and Everyday Finance, which trades as Link Financial from its headquarters at Ballybrit, Galway, had bought the building society’s loan book in 2022.
The registrar said everything possible had been done to assist Browne, but she had not engaged with the proceedings, and she had to grant the order for possession.
“We all try to help people in financial difficulty as best we can, particularly relating to their homes, and my court is regularly attended by representatives of Mabs, the money advice and budgeting service, who are also there to assist,” said Hickey.
She said there was always a chance of homes being saved through turning up and engaging with the banks and the court and Mabs, or through a refinancing scheme. The court granted Browne a stay on its order for three months to facilitate her looking for alternative accommodation and quitting the property.
The company behind Celtic Thunder, set up by Browne and Coulter in 2007, made a loss of nearly €640,000 in 2019, pushing its total losses to €2.9 million. Browne is no longer a director of the company, having been replaced by a number of members of her family, but remains involved in the Celtic Thunder business.
Browne is entitled to bring appeal proceedings against the possession order.