'They took everything': Foster and Allen's Tony Allen outlines heartbreak after bankruptcy in 2008

Tony Allen on Keys to My Life

Foster and Allen singer Tony Allen has revealed the heartbreak of losing his home and all his possessions when he was forced into bankruptcy over a decade ago.

On tonight’s episode of RTE’s Keys to my Life the singer tells how he and his musical partner Mick Foster were hit with a massive tax bill from Revenue in 2008.

Although he is now one of the country’s best known entertainers, the 72-year old came from humble beginnings.

His first home was a one-bedroom county council thatched cottage in Mount Temple, in Co Westmeath, as one of a family of nine.

He said: “My mother was an absolutely beautiful singer. My mother sang the

Rose of Avondale. It was a great song and I had the pleasure of recording it years later.

His brother Tom, country and western star TR Dallas, said they regret that their mother never lived to see their success.

Tony was unable to obtain the keys of his dream house which he built just a field away from the home he grew after he was declared bankrupt.

He recalled: “They took keys off me a long time ago.

“There was a dispute over royalties and it finished up that I had to go bankrupt. They took everything, cars, the house, the whole works.”

He ended up with a tax bill of €4.5million. But after almost five decades on the road Foster and Allen still tour.

When asked if the disappointment of losing his fortune is all in the past he said: “It was in the past the next day.”

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