This article is from page 21 of the 2008-06-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 21 JPG
PJ HOWARD did not marry Sharon Collins after he was advised by his solicitor that pre nuptial agreements were not recognised in Ireland, he told the trial.
Mr Howard said that he and Sha- ron had discussed marriage, but he decided against it on advice from his solicitor, Michael Houlihan.
Asked by Prosecuting Counsel Tom O’Connell was he married to Ms Collins, PJ Howard replied, “No.”
He said after his wife died marriage had been discussed but he decided, on legal advice, not to go ahead with i
“We discussed it and I took some legal advice from Michael Houlihan,
a local solicitor. I was advised a pren- uptial wasn’t accepted and wouldn’t be recognised in Ireland . . stating what would happen to my assets if I died,” he said.
‘IT was informed if we had any type of a marriage, legal or church, it would affect my assets. Sharon and I discussed it. I told her the situation. We came to an agreement. I think it was 2005. We signed an agreement, the two of us, to say we weren’t mar- ried and we weren’t getting married,” he said.
Asked who drew up the agreement, he said, “I think it was Sharon. It was between the two of us and we both signed it.”
“We went to Sorrento after we signed it, just for a holiday. We
agreed we’d go to a church, just the two of us, and say a few prayers,’ he added.
He said there was no ceremony, “none whatsoever.”
“Sharon said to friends we had got married and I didn’t have any objec- tions to this,” he said.
He said there was a party “I think about two nights later.”
Opening Mr Howard’s evidence to the jury last Tuesday, Prosecutor Tom O’Connell put it to him, “You are a comparatively wealthy man’, to which he replied, “You’d wonder.”
Mr O’Connell then put it to him that he was financially well off and he replied, “Yes.”
Asked did he have a mortgage on either his Ennis home or his apart-
ment in Spain, he replied, “No.”
He told Mr O’Connell he spent “ap- proximately” half the year in Spain, where he owned a boat.
He said he married Teresa Con- boy in 1974 and the couple parted company in 1992. They were legally separated. He then had a relationship with Bernie Lyons who died from cancer in 1998.
He said that his wife continued to live in the family home on the Kil- rush Road in Ennis and their sons lived with her. Mr Howard said he met Sharon Collins in 1998 and they started going out together. She and her two sons moved in to Ballybeg House for Christmas 1998 and effec- OAM RCINOT-NDNSOMO)Om Nels Ken
Asked by Mr O’Connell did Sha-
ron Collins have a furniture business which closed down in 2002, he re- plied, “I think so, yes.”
PJ Howard agreed with counsel that he had medical problems over the years and had decided to take a “back seat” in the business and spend more time in Spain.
Mr O’Connell asked Mr Howard whether Ms Collins was good at computers. He replied, “She was reasonably good at computers and her skills were self-taught.”
Mr O’Connell put it to Mr Howard that he took a lot of medication as a result of his medical problems and asked whether Ms Collins played a role in this. “Yes, she did,’ he re- plied. Asked for how long this went on, he replied, “For years.”