Brendan -you claim that most people pay their debts if they can.
I think the point that Kerrigan and Mark12 are making is that far less people will pay their debts if they can pop over to the UK leaving a mountain of debt in Ireland - and then pop back without having to pay a penny to honest creditors.
Basically it's far too easy to get away with debts by using this UK route.
Furthermore ,and I am not referring to any particular case, when one sees developers and others lving the high life whilst their creditors have suffered financial loss it leaves a nasty taste.
The taste gets worse when one sees that one's wife or others who made their money whilst working for the so-called bankrupt have "helped" him...
(oh, it's not my mansion that I'm living in -it's my wife's ,my daughter's, my mum's - they made a lot of money and could afford to buy it. I'm poor now and starting again.)
you state "If they can pay their debts the court will not allow them to go bankrupt"
But how do the UK courts have any idea of what the person really has ?
Do UK bankruptcy courts investigate how much the person paid family members or close friends prior to ceasing trading? Suddenly, a wife or brother or son ends up owning the asset previously owned by the bankrupt. And the happy bankrupt is back in his home again !(not "his" of course, but that of a close helpful relative).
To repeat - I am talking generally and not about any specific case.