Clondalkin TD hits out after being evicted from constituency office
By Aura McMenamin
People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny has hit out at receiver Duff and Phelps after they seized his constituency office on Saturday morning.
Deputy Kenny was told during his holidays that his office had been stripped of his signage and posters.
The Clondalkin TD claims he only became aware that the building was in receivership on the 17th of July and was shocked when he received an eviction notice for the 19th of July.
He said: “The first time I heard that the site was in receivership was last Monday. I thought it was a joke.”
Deputy Kenny was renting the space on 54 New Road, which entered receivership in February 2016, from the previous owner.
The loan holder is Promontoria (Aran) Ltd, a subsidiary of the US fund business Cerberus.
According to Kenny, he moved into the premises in May 2016, and only had a ‘brief conversation’ with the previous owner about her legal dispute over the building.
The receiver said they acted within their rights, and that the previous owner granted Deputy Kenny an invalid lease.
They said: “The receiver is entitled to full and vacant possession of the property, and only the receiver can grant a lease or licence of the Property to a third party.
“Whilst the mortgagor may have purported to have granted Deputy Kenny a lease or licence of the property, in light of the receiver’s appointment, any such lease or licence is invalid and unenforceable.”
In a statement, Duff and Phelps said they notified Gino Kenny of an eviction on the 13th of July saying the premises needed to be vacated the following Wednesday by 5pm.
Duff and Phelps continued: “On 12th July 2016 an Order was issued by Mr Justice O’Connor which refused all reliefs sought by the Plaintiff, including the Plaintiff’s request that the Receiver be restricted from dealing with the property.”
Deputy Kenny said he saw the letter on the 17th and emailed the receivers asking for clarification. He then received another letter the following day repeating that he needed to leave by July 19th.
Kenny said that the receiver arrived to change the locks on his office, however, following a confrontation, he was given a key to the office and allowed to move files and computers containing ‘ highly sensitive information’.
However, on Saturday morning Deputy Kenny flew to Italy for his holidays. He said: “As soon as I turned on my phone, I got a call saying that they had taken everything from the office and had changed the locks again.”
Deputy Kenny said he would fight the eviction when he returns to Ireland next week, saying: “I don’t understand why they didn’t give me prior notice. If they had given me two month’s notice I would understand that, but this won’t be tolerated.”
