Michael Flatley has been living the ‘lifestyle of a Monaco millionaire’ by borrowing money and has an ‘insatiable appetite’ for ‘lifestyle cash’, a court in Belfast heard.

Lawyers representing Flatley in a fight to clear an interim injunction said he secured more than £430,000 ‘overnight’ to end an agreement with the firm blocking him from engaging with The Lord Of The Dance.

He is also said to have spent £65,000 on a birthday party, a court has been told. 

The Irish dancer, 67, rose to international prominence performing Riverdance at Eurovision in 1994, before going on to create his hit stage show.

The production’s 30th anniversary tour is due to play in Dublin’s 3 Arena next Wednesday, continuing in various countries including the UK, Germany, Croatia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Switzer Consulting is taking legal action in a civil case against Flatley for alleged breach of contract, relating to an agreement the firm says was reached to allow it to run the dance shows.

Switzer has already secured a temporary injunction to stop him from interfering with the shows, with Flatley’s lawyers arguing previously the programme was in danger of ‘falling apart’ without his involvement.

Now Gary McHugh KC, for Switzer, has told the Chancery Court in Belfast’s Royal Courts of Justice that an injunction was necessary to protect Switzer’s interests because Flatley’s financial situation would have left him unable to pay damages.

Michael Flatley (pictured) has been living the ‘lifestyle of a Monaco millionaire’ by borrowing money and has an ‘insatiable appetite’ for ‘lifestyle cash’, a court in Belfast heard

The Irish dancer and choreographer rose to international prominence performing Riverdance at Eurovisionin 1994, before going on to create stage show The Lord Of The Dance

The legal dispute hinges on a terms of service agreement under which Flatley transferred intellectual property rights for Lord Of The Dance to Switzer.

They were then in turn required to provide business management services to Flatley, including accounts and payroll.

For this, Flatley agreed to pay the company £35,000 per month for the first 24 months, rising to £40,000 a month thereafter.

Mr McHugh read a statement by Flatley’s former financial advisor Des Walsh who said the dancer ‘knows why he finds himself in this position’.

He said that Flatley ‘has lived the lifestyle of a Monaco millionaire’ by borrowing money ‘as he did not even have the minimum cash required to open a residency package’.

‘At the time Michael was advised that he should not move into that wealth circle as he simply did not have the resources,’ the statement read.

‘Michael ignored this advice and has essentially maintained this facade of wealth using other people’s monies ever since.’

The court heard this was exacerbated by Flatley’s ‘horrendous business mistakes, which cost him millions of additional borrowings’, at a time when ‘he had no income and was running out of room financially’.

Irish dancer Michael Flatley leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast on January 27 2026

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Mr Walsh’s statement added that ‘instead of reining in his spending, adjusting his lifetime costs and cutting his cloth to suit his measure, Michael simply borrowed more money from more people.

‘It was all about image. All of this borrowing was used to maintain a pretence of wealth.

‘Michael would borrow money from anyone he could, and constantly put pressure on everyone looking for cash.’

His affidavit also claimed Flatley’s ‘appetite for lifestyle cash was insatiable’, and he borrowed £65,000 for a birthday party and £43,000 to join Monaco Yacht Club.

David Dunlop KC, representing Flatley, pushed back on claims Flatley ‘was a poor manager of his own affairs and was a man with substantial debts’, saying that ‘ad hominem’ attacks had been made on the dancer’s character.

Mr Dunlop argued that Switzer’s entitlement was limited to a fee of £420,000 for the 60 remaining months of its terms of service agreement with Flatley.

He said that ‘overnight’ Flatley had cleared £433,000 that was being held by a solicitor in Dublin that would pay for damages to end the contract with Switzer.

‘While many averments were made about Mr Flatley’s financial affairs the proof is in the pudding,’ he said.

The Irish dancer and choreographer rose to international prominence performing Riverdance at Eurovision in 1994, before going on to create the stage show The Lord Of The Dance

Flatley endeared himself millions as the creator of hit stage shows called Lord Of The Dance

Michael Flatley is pictured here with wife Niamh and son Michael in November 2015

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‘He is the one who’s managed to generate and has made available half a million pounds.

‘It’s not Mr Flatley who has the financial difficulties in this case, it is the plaintiff.’

Asserting that Switzer’s arguments had not addressed the ‘legal core’ of the case, Mr Dunlop added: ‘To use a football metaphor, they attacked the player not the ball.’

Mr Dunlop pushed back on claims made by Switzer’s legal team that the financial arrangements in the contract were essentially to protect The Lord Of The Dance from Flatley’s financial reputation.

He told the court: ‘Ultimately if there’s damage caused to the operation of the Lord Of The Dance when Mr Flatley is undertaking it, well it’s his property.

‘If it suffers loss, that’s really his problem.

‘However if he’s right, and Switzer is a completely untrustworthy agent in whom he has lost all trust whatsoever for the next 12 months or thereabouts it will control the intellectual property.

‘It could do untold damage to Mr Flatley’s intellectual property.

‘It has no incentive to retain the value of the intellectual property because it’s only entitled to be paid a service fee.

‘So Switzer has no skin in the game really order to protect the Lord Of The Dance.’

A court ruling is expected later on Thurday.