Was meint Ihr, lohnt sich der einstig hier?

Brian O'Donnell of Killiney in Co Dublin is being cross-examined about his assets and liabilities by the bank after being ordered to come to court.

He told the court this afternoon that had the bank worked with them it could "all have been kept quiet" and assets could have been sold at the best possible price to get as much money as possible for the bank.

Instead, he said, everything was being done in the full glare of publicity.

He told the court this is not what would happen in London or New York, where things are kept quiet.

He said, in his humble opinion, this was not the way to do things for him and his wife, Dr Mary Patricia O'Donnell, or for other people.

He said they had given the bank €100m of Irish assets, and now the bank was selling them for €10m.

A property at Merrion Square in Dublin - the former offices of his legal firm - had been valued at €30m and was on the market for €6m, he said.

Mr O'Donnell said they had been trying to engage with the bank for four years and were at their wits' end - that is why they had to file for bankruptcy, he said.

He could not explain why the Commercial Court was told last month that they had been declared bankrupt in the UK when they had merely filed for bankruptcy and must wait until a hearing in June to find out if the court will agree to declare them bankrupt.

Mr O'Donnell said he was confident the bank had been fully aware that the beneficial ownership of a number of assets had been transferred to the couple's children.