Three men remain in prison for contempt of court order



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Three men will remain in Mountjoy Prison after they refused to agree to stay away from a Co Roscommon farm, which was the scene of a controversial eviction in 2018.

In Superior Court last week, Michael Anthony McGann, Colm Granahan and Kevin Taylor were jailed after Judge Leonie Reynolds found they were in contempt of court orders to stay away from the property in Falsk, Strokestown, Co Roscommon.

All three appeared in court after their arrest by An Garda Síochána.

Their cases returned to Superior Court today when the court, via video link, again asked if any of the three were willing to purge their contempt and promise to cooperate with the orders requested by KBC.

Mr. McGann, owner of the property, Mr. Taylor, a retired Garda from Dublin Road, Longford, and Mr. Granahan, of Ballina in Co Mayo, reiterated claims that the court orders they had violated were based on “fraud and perjury”.

The judge said it was clear that none of the three wanted to comply with the court’s orders, and that the court had no choice but to continue their incarceration.

The judge said the court will issue a written ruling on the matter at a later date.

However, the judge added that all three could appear in court at any time to purge their contempt.

Rossa Fanning SC, who appeared with Keith Rooney Bl for KBC, said the home was insured.

He did not want to see the men incarcerated, but he does want all three to agree to comply with the orders, the lawyer said.

Last year, KBC Bank obtained warrants in a lawsuit against Mr. McGann and his two brothers David and Geraldine McGann granting him vacant possession of the farm.

When they didn’t comply, KBC obtained new orders requiring the McGanns and everyone else to leave the property.

The three men remained on the property preventing the bank from taking possession, KBC said.

The three men were arrested by gardaí and brought before the judge to answer their contempt, which none of them could purge.

A few years ago, KBC obtained a possession order for the estate arising from a € 431,000 debt on the property on a loan to its registered owner Michael Anthony McGann.

The McGanns were evicted from the farm in 2018.

Later, the house was the scene of an attack on the security agents employed to secure it, who were evicted from the property by a group of masked men and several vehicles were burned.

The McGanns, who were not involved in that incident, returned to the home.

KBC then filed new orders against the family, who were arrested and released after they vowed not to return to the farm.



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