McDonnell took out a 20-year IR�40,000 ( 50,790) mortgage on the home in April 1990 and had a perfect payment history until 2005.

His financial problems began when he left his job as a psychiatric nurse to look after his 83-year-old mother, who had Alzheimer's disease.

McDonnell's income immediately dropped to around 180 a week. This made it impossible to keep up with his mortgage payments, which eventually stopped in May 2005.

"I was never in such poverty in my life. I just had to keep the utilities going for my mother, " he said.

McDonnell said he didn't have significant amounts of savings because his mother had been ill for around 15 years prior to that and he had been financing most of her care.

He claimed that as soon as the mortgage payments ceased, IIB began to adopt aggressive collection tactics.

"They started ringing me up and calling on me. I told them about my circumstances but they were very unhelpful and kept on tormenting me, " he said.

On some occasions, he claimed, his mother answered the door and the phone when IIB called, which "compounded his agitation".

IIB eventually issued High Court repossession proceedings in January. McDonnell said he made a number of suggestions about how he could pay back his arrears, including rescheduling it or securing it against the lump sum that he would receive when his pension matured when he reached 55.

"I also asked for a moratorium for a year or two but the maximum they would give me was three months, " he said.

He also pointed out that he had assets, a 10-acre family farm which he inherited from his father, which he could sell when his mother died.

"She was reasonably aware of her surroundings, so emotionally that wouldn't have gone down well with her, " said McDonnell.

His mother died last February and McDonnell is now planning to sell the family farm to pay his arrears. However, the bank has demanded that he pay them by 20 July, which he believes is an impossible deadline. He is also seeking a new job, which he hopes will also help him to pay back his debts.

An affidavit submitted to the High Court on behalf of IIB makes no reference to any discussions between McDonnell and the company.

It states, however, that the "rst solicitor's letter sent on behalf of the firm to McDonnell was issued on 5 April 2006, seeking payment of the arrears. A second followed on 10 May 2006 seeking payment of the full amount of his mortgage, which was followed on 31 May by a letter demanding possession of his home.

Another letter was sent to McDonnell last November informing him of the company's intention to take a court action against him.

A spokesman for IIB said that the bank did not comment on proceedings before the courts.