Kilkenny News

DJ Carey owed millions while enjoying trips to the US

DJ Carey owed millions while enjoying trips to the US

Former Kilkenny hurler, DJ Carey, was living it up in America while owing millions of euro to AIB.

That's according to a report in today's Irish Independent.

The paper states the former hurler was attending high-profile sports events such as the Super Bowl and travelling across the US when he was millions of euros in debt to AIB.

It also claims he was playing golf on some of the country's top courses.

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Mr Carey's social media reveals that he had been living life to the max, despite having €9.5 million hanging over his head.

He had been regularly checking in via Facebook showcasing the trips he had been on.

In February, he updated his status to say:

"Thrilled to be in New York for the Super Bowl. Great atmosphere. Nearly as good as all Ireland weekend lol."

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He also checked in to let everyone know exactly where he was, which was at Flushing Meadows, Corona Park on that occasion.

In April 2015, he was in America again, but this time for a golfing event. Again, he updated his Facebook status to let his friends and followers know.

It is unknown whether Mr Carey funded his own attendance to these events.

Mr Carey's name has been in the headlines and the Dáil recently after it was revealed that he had 99% of his debt was written down by the bank in 2017.

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AIB has been quizzed on its debt write-down policy.

Representatives from the bank were brought before TD's and Senators on the Oireachtas Finance Committee.

The bank's Head of Retail, Jim O'Keeffe told the Committee that celebrities and the wealthy do not get special treatment.

"The assurance we are giving you here today is that we have the policies and procedures in place to make sure we are very fair right across the board," he said.

He added that since 2015, 1,900, or 1% of customers, have had 90% of their debt waived.

Following the financial crash, Mr Carey had been struggling. His business, DJ Carey Enterprises, was liquidated.

In 2011, AIB secured a High Court judgement for €9.5 million based off of loans secured on properties Mr Carey had at Mount Juliet in Thomastown, Kilkenny, and the K Club, Kildare.

Over the next few years, the bank received €1.7 million from the sale of those properties and so agreed a payment of €60,000 in full and a final settlement of the remaining debt.

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