Hospitality entrepreneur Alan Clancy is opposing a High Court bankruptcy petition brought against him over an alleged debt of more than €278,000.Businessman Sean McGowan wants Clancy to be adjudicated a bankrupt over the alleged non-payment of money under a lease agreement between the men, relating to Oldcastle House Hotel in Co Meath.Clancy denies the debt “in full”, and intends to pursue a counterclaim by way of a separate lawsuit, the court heard on Monday.Clancy controls hospitality group NolaClan.McGowan, of Grants Court, Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co Dublin, agreed to lease the Co Meath premises to Clancy, with an address at Hanover Quay, Dublin 2, in March 2017.In his petition for bankruptcy against Clancy, McGovern claims he is owed some €160,000 in unpaid rent by Clancy, plus about €119,000 in late payment interest.Will the State’s plan for the Carlton Cinema site revitalise O’Connell Street? Listen | 25:33At Monday’s hearing, barrister Keith Farry, for Clancy, told Judge Liam Kennedy his side was seeking to advance a defence to the bankruptcy summons. Counsel said his client is solvent, and denies the debt alleged “in full”.It is Clancy’s case that he entered into an agreement with McGowan in October 2020 in respect of certain arrears and future rental and insurance payments. The alleged agreement arose in circumstances where restrictions on the hospitality sector brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic affected business at the hotel.Farry submitted that under the agreement, in advance of a sale of the premises, Clancy would continue to operate the hotel and ready it for sale. Counsel said the agreement stipulated that if the hotel sold for more than €950,000, his client would be entitled to 50 per cent of the uplift in property value.Farry submitted that the hotel was sold for €1.3 million, but that Clancy was not paid the 50 per cent uplift.Michael Connolly, barrister for McGowan, sought an adjournment to consider a replying affidavit recently filed by Clancy.Connolly told the judge that his side had received a letter stating Clancy’s intention to issue proceedings over a counterclaim against McGowan.In his written evidence, Clancy says that his counterclaim, to be pursued in a separate lawsuit, will seek to recover the money allegedly owed to him following the sale of the hotel.The judge put the matter back for one week.