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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
May 2015 17
I
F you want to know a bit more about
New Land League founder, Jerry
Beades, just ask Frances Cullen.
She was made a widow when she and
their three children in Coolock in north
Dublin lost her husband, Gerry, three
years ago.
He died just a few years after he fell,
in January , from ‘rotten scaffold-
ing’ and suffered injuries which forced
him out of work as a builder’s labourer,
and according to his wife, to an early
grave.
He worked for a construction com-
pany owned and run by Jerry Beades
which was building apartments at the
Richmond Avenue site in Fairview when
the accident occurred. He was employed
by Mendit Construction Ltd. and/or
Jerry Beades Construction Ltd.
“Gerry fell feet from the scaffold-
ing. He was brought to James Hospital
badly bruised and cut and with a back
injury. After that he had constant back
pain and couldn’t walk properly. He
never worked again and was only
when he died suddenly a few years later
from a blood clot in his bowel. He was in
good health before he fell and needed to
be to keep up work as a builder’s
labourer”.
Another worker, a non-national, also
fell from the scaffolding and suffered
even more severe injuries.
In Gerry Cullen was awarded
€, in compensation for his inju-
ries and loss of work.
He died nine months later, in Febru-
ary , without seeing a cent as
Beades had failed to comply with the
terms of his company’s insurance
policy, according to Frances Cullen.
In an affidavit to the court, Beades
conceded that he had failed to notify the
insurance company immediately after
the accident, as required under the
policy. He unsuccessfully tried to join
Quinn Insurances to the action taken by
solicitors for Cullen.
Cullen’s application for redundancy
was also delayed after he failed to
obtain any constructive co-operation
from his employer, Beades.
Cullen managed to secure almost
€, in his redundancy entitlements
after two appearances at the Employ-
ment Appeals Tribunal but never
received the almost €, compen-
sation award. Contacted by Village,
Beades blamed everyone but himself,
including legal advisors, for the failure
to notify his insurance company.
His firm had gone into liquidation
soon after the accident and he now owes
over €.m to Bank of Scotland and
another €.m to Ulster Bank.
Frances Cullen insists that her hus-
band had nothing but problems over the
years with his boss.
“There were always problems with
Beades. Gerry was often left waiting for
his wages to be paid at the end of the
week. When he was injured Beades
never got in touch. When we took him to
court he sat on the other side of the
room and never even acknowledged us.
He is not a nice man”, said Frances
Cullen.
In , summary judgment was
granted against Beades for €.m to
Ulster Bank. €.m had been taken
out of an account with the assist-
ance of a bank manager, as a result
of “theft”. He says that he intends to
bring a claim against the bank aris-
ing out of this alleged wrong.
Mr Beades further argued he did not
accept claims by the bank that a signa-
ture on a loan document was his. He
also argued that he had taken out the
loans with Ulster Bank Ltd, an entity he
said no longer exists having been wound
up several years ago.
He was also pursued by Bank of Scot-
land for nearly €m lent for property
development. Commercial court judge,
Peter Kelly, asked if Beades had received
the monies at issue from Bank of Scot-
land – but received the response “I
refuse to answer that question”.
Jerry Beades is now the self-appointed
leader of the self-styled New Land
League and fights for others in difficulty
with the banks. Most recently he has
been championing the oppressed resi-
dents of Gorse Hill, the ‘bog standard’
Killiney mansion occupied by solicitor,
Brian O’Donnell and his family in their
failed battle against receivers acting for
Bank of Ireland.
O’Donnell owes over €m to the
bank and Beades has taken up the cause
with his followers to highlight the hun-
dreds of other distressed borrowers
against whom eviction threats have
been made up and down the country.
Whatever his band of merry men
might think, Jerry Beades is no Michael
Davitt, the Mayo man who founded the
Land League in the late th Century,
who was the antithesis of a dodgy
builder who does not look after his
workers and never accepts blame.
Beades was a member of the national
executive of Fianna Fáil when the party
under Bertie Ahern was leading the
people over the economic cliff. After his
own financial collapse he formed
‘Friends of Banking Ireland’ to highlight
the lax regulation of the industry,
including those to whom he owed
millions.
He went on to lead the charge against
public auctions of repossessed proper-
ties and has promoted himself as the
latest saviour of the oppressed even
though most viewing his recent antics
on Vico Road and at the High Court –
and how much he seemed to enjoy it all
– might think the opposite. •
Gerry Cullen
died in
February
2012, without
seeing a cent
as Beades
had failed to
comply with
the terms of
his company’s
insurance
policy
“
NEWS Jerry Beades
Beades
Jerry Beades is the man
who stood by Brian
O’Donnell at the ‘Siege
of Gorse Hill’. But who is
he? By Frank Connolly
