The former mayor’s wife is filing a lawsuit against him and the company that owned their former home – The Irish Times

The wife of former Dublin Mayor Nial Ring has brought a High Court claim against her husband and the Dublin company that owns their former Clontarf home.

The filing of the lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal proceedings involving a detached, two-bay red brick house on St Lawrence Road in Clontarf, one of the most attractive roads in Dublin’s northern suburbs.

The house was sold by Nial and Joyce Ring in December 2019 – for €2.5 million according to the Property Price Register – and bought by Calvet Properties Ltd, which company documents show is owned by Mr Ring, who lists the house as Clontarf as your home address.

In February 2019, the couple came close to losing their home when the District Court heard that Bank of Ireland had transferred almost €1 million to settle a mortgage debt of €903,000 and bank costs arising from the bank’s drawn-out bid to foreclose on the property .

Judge Jacqueline Linnane made an order to repossess the house in May 2017, but it was appealed. In February 2019, she rejected the bank’s claim when she was told that Rings had managed to raise funds from an undisclosed source.

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The couple’s lawyer told the judge the source of the new funds could not be disclosed because it could breach data protection laws.

On Thursday this week, Ms Ring brought a High Court claim against Calvet, Mr Ring and the law firm that had previously acted on behalf of the couple.

Company documents show that Calvet, a company incorporated in March 2017 with Mr. Ring as its sole director and shareholder, is currently in bankruptcy.

In January 2020, it registered a charge against Belfast-based Business Capital and Finance (PC) Ltd, which is owned by Gareth Graham, chief executive of Belfast Commercial Fund, a non-bank lender to small businesses.

The charge describes Calvet as the landlord and refers to a four-year and nine-month lease dated November 2019 between Calvet, a named person (not Rings), and the Clontarf property.

In November 2022, the Belfast-based company appointed a receiver for Calvet. In its most recent report filed in May 2024, the trustee stated that it had not yet secured any assets.

Ring, an independent councilor on the north side of downtown, was mayor from June 2018 to June 2019. When contacted, he did not want to comment on the matter. Attempts to contact Ms. Ring were unsuccessful.