High Court hears from John Magnier's 'right hand man' in multi million Barne Estate row

Irish Examiner

5 hours ago

A senior advisor described as a "right-hand man" to bloodstock billionaire John Magnier, who is involved in a legal battle over the purported multi-million sale of a Tipperary estate that fell through, has told the High Court he was not secretly "kept in the loop" of the tax affairs of the vendors.
Financial advisor at world-famous Coolmore Stud, Eddie Irwin also rejected a description of him by counsel for Barne Estate as Mr Magnier's "fixer"and "right hand man". Mr Irwin said Coolmore did not use "catchphrases or fancy titles" but agreed with counsel that he would be called to work on projects if things went "wrong".
Mr Irwin, who has 40 years' experience working with Mr Magnier, was called in to aid in securing the Barne Estate deal which the Magniers believed they had shook hands on in August 2023 for €15m. However, the Magnier side were ultimately gazumped in being the preferred buyer by Irish-born, US-based construction magnate Maurice Regan, who offered €22.25m.
The case centres on Mr Magnier's claim that Mr Regan engaged in a "full-frontal assault" on Mr Magnier's claimed deal to buy the 751-acre tract and that Barne estate reneged on the deal.
Barne Estate has been held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others by a Jersey trust.
At the High Court on Friday, Mr Irwin said he met with Mr Thomson-Moore in early September 2023 and they contacted tax experts KPMG after the Thomson-Moore family requested tax liability advice.
A KPMG tax expert met with the Thomson-Moores later in the month as a "favour" to Coolmore, who were large clients of KPMG.
Mr Irwin did not attend that meeting but allegedly sent a WhatsApp message to Mr Magnier telling him "off the record" that the tax expert, who was named in court, allegedly told him that the Thomson-Moores were considering whether to retain KPMG and that the expert had informed the Thomson-Moores of what approach he recommended.
Mr Irwin answering Martin Hayden, counsel for Barne Estate, denied he had an "off-the-record" report from the expert that, counsel alleged, would keep him "in the loop" in return for introducing the Thomson-Moores to KPMG.
Mr Irwin said the wording of the WhatsApp message was an "aberration" and "unfortunate" and that he meant for Mr Magnier not to share information already known from previous meetings as it was a "private" and not for dissemination.
Mr Irwin told Mr Hayden that the named expert was an "innocent, decent, and honourable" man, who was being "defamed" in the court as someone who would keep him "in the loop" on private tax matters.
However, Mr Irwin said he did have "grave" concerns at the time that the tax issue raised by the Thomson-Moores was put forward just before the September 29, 2023, end of an exclusivity agreement and may not have been a genuine one.
Mr Irwin told Mr Hayden that he was told by Mr Magnier that a week after the alleged handshake deal that his son-in-law, David Wachman, received a call from Mr Regan, who was "angry and abusive" about the purported sale.
Mr Regan told Mr Wachman that he would outbid the Magnier side by €5m to prevent the deal going through, claimed Mr Irwin.
After the expiration of the exclusivity agreement on September 29, 2023, Mr Irwin contacted Eugene McCague, a former partner at legal heavyweights Arthur Cox, who represent Coolmore in these proceedings, and sought legal advice should the matter be litigated.
In early October 2023, with the exclusivity agreement now expired, the local estate agent involved in the sale, John Stokes, told the Magniers that the Barne Estate had been subject to a €20m bid.
The Magnier side then upped their bid to €16m with a separate, additional offering of €500,000 to establish a trust for a member of the Thomson-Moore family.
Mr Irwin said he was told by the auctioneer that the Thomson-Moore's were happy to accept the Magnier offer but the Barne Estate solicitors never sent the contracts and the deal was never done.
The Magnier side has sued the Barne Estate, Mr Thomson-Moore, and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group, seeking to enforce the purported deal, which they say had been "unequivocally" agreed.
The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement, as they needed the consent of trustees to finalise any agreement and subsequently they preferred to sell the estate to Mr Regan.
Mr Regan is not a party to the case.
The case continues before Mr Justice Max Barrett next month.