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High Court extends stay of seized Dublin house as Martin Foley seeks to protect his family from homelessness while awaiting full appeal hearing over tax debt enforcement.
The house on Cashel Avenue in Kimmage, a suburb of southwest Dublin, has become the centrepiece of a lengthy legal battle involving veteran gangster Martin Foley and the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).
The state agency obtained a seizure order in 2014 after Foley was found to owe nearly one million euros in unpaid taxes. For years the property was held under a stay that protected the residents from immediate removal. According to court filings, in March 2025 the stay was extended by 18 months because Foley's wife, Sonya, and their nine‑year‑old daughter were living there.
The stay was up for renewal on Thursday, but a one‑day extension was granted to give Foley time to retain new counsel following the sudden death of his former solicitor. In a recent High Court session, Judge Cian Ferriter set a full hearing for September 23rd and imposed a short stay lasting until that date.
The judge explained that the short interval would allow Foley and his wife to prepare for a request for a longer extension, which is necessary to keep the house off the market while the December appeal hearing is convened. Foley has already found a new team of solicitors and a barrister, although his wife's separate plea for a longer stay to retain her own legal representation was rejected.
Judge Ferriter said Sonya had had ample time in the past 18 months to secure counsel and that the request was too late. She argues she owns half of the property, which is officially registered in Foley's name together with his first wife, and therefore the home should not be sold.
Foley, who has more than 60 convictions for assault, robbery, and weapons offences and who once headed a gang under the late crime lord Martin Cahill, continues to insist that the Cashel Avenue house is an inheritance from his mother and not the fruit of illicit activity. He has threatened to face homelessness if CAB completes the sale and has suggested a novel arrangement: a "mortgage to rent" plan that would allow him and his family to remain in the house while paying a monthly contribution to CAB.
Meanwhile, CAB's representative Shaula Connaughton‑Deeny has reiterated that there is no chance of selling the property before the court's 23rd‑of‑September hearing, and that the agency has taken no steps to execute a sale. The case has drawn additional attention to the wider context of financial enforcement against organised crime in Ireland. It highlights the delicate balance courts must strike between the state's interest in recovering unpaid taxes and the personal welfare of those living in seized properties.
The High Court's decision to extend the stay short‑term while preparing for a full hearing underscores the procedural complexities involved in defending a property that may belong to a convicted criminal yet is used as a private family residence. Foley's situation is a modern illustration of how the justice system navigates the intersection of criminal liability, asset forfeiture, and the rights of families who may be inadvertently entangled in criminal proceedings
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