Martin Foley Mounts High Court Challenge to Halt CAB Eviction

Veteran Dublin figure Martin ‘The Viper’ Foley has initiated urgent legal proceedings in the High Court in a bid to prevent the Criminal Assets Bureau from executing an order for possession against his long-time family residence in south Dublin. Appearing in person before the court, Foley sought an emergency ex parte stay to suspend an impending repossession of his property at Cashel Avenue, Kimmage. The move follows an order of possession originally granted by the Circuit Civil Court, which granted a lengthy stay that is due to expire within a fortnight.

Presiding over the application, Mr Justice David Nolan refused to grant an immediate ex parte order in the absence of the statutory agency, citing fair procedures and the extensive history of the litigation. Instead, the judge granted Foley liberty to serve short notice on the Criminal Assets Bureau, scheduling the matter to be heard fully with both parties present early next week. Justice Nolan observed that the Circuit Court had already afforded an 18-month stay on the possession order in 2024 to facilitate the search for alternative living arrangements, underscoring the necessity of allowing the Bureau’s legal representatives an opportunity to formally address any fresh application.

Plea of Impending Homelessness

Foley, who attended court accompanied by his wife Sonya, made an impassioned plea to the judge, contending that executing the repossession order on 16 September would result in immediate destitution for his family. Representing himself without legal counsel, the 75-year-old argued that his domestic situation had reached a crisis point and that his wife and dependent child would be cast out onto the street. He told the court that newly acquired accounting records had recently come to light, which he asserted would form the foundation of a substantive appeal against the underlying possession and judgment orders.

Addressing his current financial reality, Foley outlined that he relies predominantly on the state pension while working two days per week as a van driver to cover basic living expenses. He submitted that his wife is registered for disability payments and that the household possesses no alternative capital, savings, or property assets that could fund alternative accommodation in Dublin’s constricted housing market. He maintained that displacing the family at this juncture would inflict severe and irreversible hardship, leaving them entirely reliant on emergency social support.

Origin of the Outstanding Tax Liability

The protracted legal dispute originates not from direct confiscation under proceeds of crime legislation, but from substantial judgment mortgages linked to unpaid Revenue liabilities. The Criminal Assets Bureau assessed Foley with an outstanding tax bill exceeding €916,000, covering historic liabilities accumulated up to the year 2000, which has since swollen to nearly €1 million. Over a decade ago, judgment was formally registered against the Kimmage residence, which stands registered in the joint names of Foley and his late former wife, Pauline.

Sonya Foley has strenuously disputed the Bureau’s entitlement to realize the asset, arguing that she maintains an equitable and legal interest in at least half of the family home. In earlier submissions before the Circuit Civil Court, she insisted that she bears no personal responsibility for historical tax liabilities incurred prior to her marriage and emphasized that the property represents her sole shelter. She stressed that the prospect of securing an alternative residential mortgage or private tenancy was entirely outside the realm of financial possibility for her family.

Proposed Settlements and State Resistance

In an effort to avert physical eviction, Foley proposed a series of alternative resolutions to satisfy the statutory agency. He formally expressed a willingness to transition the property into a Mortgage to Rent arrangement, under which the state or an approved housing body would acquire the dwelling while permitting his family to remain in situ as local authority tenants paying an income-adjusted differential rent. Additionally, Foley offered to assign the potential financial benefits of two active defamation proceedings he is currently pursuing through the Irish courts to offset the outstanding state debt.

However, counsel representing the Criminal Assets Bureau has consistently pushed back against these overtures, challenging the factual foundation of the family’s assertions. In prior hearings before the Circuit Civil Court, Bureau barrister Shaula Connaughton Deeny argued that the claims regarding financial destitution and medical disability were completely unvouched by independent documentary evidence. The Bureau maintained that no verified explanation had been submitted detailing why Sonya Foley was precluded from entering the workforce, characterizing the defense evidence as vague and unsubstantiated.

Judgment Enforcement and the Court Process

Under Irish law, the Criminal Assets Bureau operates with unique multi-agency authority, leveraging powers under the Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996 and statutory tax enforcement mechanisms delegated by the Revenue Commissioners. When executing judgment mortgages on real estate, the Bureau adheres to civil debt collection and repossession procedures under the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act framework. While defendants frequently raise family rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Irish courts consistently require rigorous, sworn evidence before setting aside or staying an existing order of execution.

Foley’s previous legal representatives argued that the extraordinary delay in pursuing the enforcement of the historic tax assessment created an expectation that the debt would not be actively recovered against the home, rendering the late seizure disproportionately harsh. The High Court will now weigh these competing arguments when the Bureau appears next Tuesday to formally contest the application for a further stay on execution.