Three men are being sued by the Bank of Ireland for allegedly failing to pay €1.1m in interest on a loan they took out to buy its headquarters in Baggot Street, Dublin.

Patrick Shovlin, Turnberry, Kerrymount Avenue, Foxrock, Dublin; Patrick Fitzpatrick, Dargle Lodge, Cookstown, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow; and Anthony Fitzpatrick, Trethorpe, Brennanstown Road, Cabinteely, were given the loan in August 2006.

Mr Shovlin owes €555,559, while the two others owe €277,779 each, the bank claims.

Two others, Ronan Ó Caoimh, Glencarrig House, Delgany, Co Wicklow, and Peter Lavelle, Sorrento, Nerrano Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin, who were also involved in the loan deal, have discharged their interest payments of €184,413 and €35,175 respectively.

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A number of other people were involved in the loan agreement, but they had paid up before court proceedings were initiated.

The three men had objected to the case being transferred to Ireland's fast-track Commercial Court list because the individual amounts involved did not come within the court's €1m entry threshold.

Counsel for the trio argued that the men were severally liable, rather than jointly liable, under the loan agreement.

It was argued they should not be amalgamated for the purpose of getting the case into the Commercial Court where cases are dealt with quicker than in the High Court.

This was not a case about the €180 million loan for the property but was fundamentally a debt collection claim for interest due on that loan, their counsel said.

Judge Peter Kelly, however, said the rules for entry into the Commercial Court did not require that a case needed to be against each defendant. In those circumstances, he admitted the case to his court and adjourned the matter to January 15 to allow the defendants to supply affidavits to state whether they have a defence to the claim.

Failure to provide a defence would result in summary judgment against them, Judge Kelly said.

(NS/BMcC)