An Irish lottery winner took home £3.3 million in 2001; years later, a court heard how investments and a failed construction business left him struggling to repay a bank loan

In 2001, Cormac Handy collected lottery winnings worth £3.3 million, a sum that could have secured his financial future. More than a decade later, the Irishman was in Galway District Court over a bank loan he had guaranteed for someone else. Ulster Bank wanted him to repay €14,371, including the outstanding debt, costs and interest. Handy maintained that he could afford only €50 a month. By then, he had told the court, much of his fortune had disappeared through losses on investments and the collapse of a construction business he had entered with his brother. The hearing in March 2013 brought his earlier windfall into the discussion.Irish lottery winner Cormac Handy faced court over an unpaid bank loanHandy, who was originally from Clara, County Offaly, won £3,320,243 in 2001. By the time of the court proceedings, he was living in Rockbarton, Salthill, in Galway and working as a lecturer at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, now known as Atlantic Technological University.His appearance before the court was not about the lottery itself. Ulster Bank Ireland Ltd was seeking to enforce an earlier Circuit Court order requiring him to pay money owed under a loan for which he had acted as guarantor. The order had been made on August 30, 2012, and the bank wanted the repayments enforced.The amount in question was €14,371. That included €13,507 in debt, €624 in costs and expenses, and interest charged at 8 per cent a year. The bank sought monthly payments of €400, but Handy said his finances would not stretch that far.How investment losses eroded his lottery fortuneDuring the hearing reported on March 22, 2013, the court heard what had happened to a substantial portion of the money he had received more than a decade earlier. As reported by The Irish Times, Handy said he had lost €1.5 million through stocks and shares. He had also put money into a construction business with his brother, but that venture had collapsed.The account offered in court gave a partial explanation for how a multimillion-pound windfall had failed to leave him with enough readily available money to meet the bank's demand. Handy told the judge that he had paid off half his mortgage when he won and distributed some of the money among members of his family.His financial position had also become more difficult because of his housing costs. He said he had previously been paying €1,900 a month in interest-only mortgage payments. Those payments had since risen to €4,500 a month, covering the full mortgage repayment.Monthly bills came under scrutiny in lottery winner’s debt caseSean Acton, the solicitor representing Ulster Bank, examined the statement of means Handy had submitted ahead of the hearing. The document listed the household's regular expenses, including €650 a month for food, housekeeping and personal care. Heating costs came to €150, while car maintenance and repairs accounted for €120.The figures also included €42 for UPC broadband, €40 for Sky television, €90 for two mobile phones and €100 for clothing and footwear. Petrol for two cars cost €180 a month, with another €100 set aside for family occasions, birthdays, Christmas celebrations and meals out.Acton challenged Handy over the spending, suggesting that he was unwilling to repay the bank rather than genuinely unable to do so. Handy responded that the loan was not his own debt, although he acknowledged that he had stood as guarantor.By guaranteeing the loan, he had accepted responsibility for the debt if the original borrower failed to meet the required payments. The proceedings concerned the bank's attempt to recover the money under that arrangement.Why the judge questioned his mortgage and pension spendingJudge Mary Fahy also asked why Handy had not used more of his lottery winnings to clear his mortgage when he first received the money. She pointed out that he could have bought himself greater financial security by paying it off outright.Handy said he had repaid half the mortgage at the time and shared some of the winnings with his family. His explanation did not settle the question of how much money remained available to him by 2013, particularly given the investment losses, failed business and higher monthly housing costs he described. Another item in his statement of means drew the judge's attention. Handy was paying €165 a month into a private pension, despite holding a permanent, pensionable position at GMIT. Judge Fahy questioned whether that additional contribution should take priority over the money owed to the bank.Her remarks reflected the circumstances of the wider economic downturn, when households were being pressed to reduce spending. She argued that the pension payment was an expense Handy could reconsider while facing the repayment order. Reportedly, his solicitor, Antoinette McMahon, maintained that there was little money left after his existing commitments and repeated that he could manage only €50 a month.Court ordered repayments of €250 a monthJudge Fahy rejected the proposed €50 monthly payment. She considered it possible for Handy to pay more, taking account of the expenses he had declared and the private pension contribution. The judge ordered him to make installments of €250 a month, less than the €400 sought by the bank but five times the amount he had offered.In explaining her decision, Fahy remarked that Handy was still paying for things other people had been forced to give up during the difficult economic period. She also observed that he had a secure job with pension benefits. The judge described the order as a generous outcome for him and said he could appeal if he wished. The case did not establish that Handy had spent every euro of his lottery winnings, nor did it provide a complete accounting of his finances after 2001. More than 12 years after collecting £3.3 million, Handy was being ordered to repay a comparatively modest bank debt in monthly installments.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.