Council in sports link to builder Gannon
Sporting Fingal is moving into the premier division with backing from property developers after the county council's successful sponsorship drive
Sunday November 29 2009
IRELAND'S property developer-sponsored football club, Sporting Fingal has made it into the Premier League and took the FAI Ford Cup on Sunday last.
Gerry Gannon of Gannon Homes is the secretary and a director of Sporting Fingal FC Ltd and a main financial backer. When setting it up two years ago, Fingal County Council sought sponsorship for the community club from local businesses. Mr Gannon's company is a huge buyer, seller and developer of north Dublin property.
Other main sponsors listed on Sporting Fingal's website include property firms Liffey Developments and Twinlite Developments.
********
BUSINESS must be good at Dublin-based hedge fund and currency trading firm Lee Overlay Partners. Co-founder Nigel Rogers is pimping up his crib, according to this week's planning lists.
A bar, swimming pool, steam room, sauna and snooker room are part of the extension plans granted permission. The house in Shankill, south Dublin, was on the market in early 2008, with offers of €4.25m sought by DNG.
Rogers was JP Morgan's global head of currency trading before switching to the Dublin-headquartered currency trading firm. Lee Overlay manages about $8bn (€5.4bn) in active currency for institutional investors, bringing in close to €3m in profits in 2007, although that slipped somewhat last year.
Company chief Adrian Lee is a well-known yachstman, sailing one of the biggest, yachts in the country -- a 50ft Cookson imaginatively named Lee Overlay Partners.
********
THE recent floods might prompt some sober reflection among county councillors, who were enthusiastic rezoners of flood plains for development during the boom times.
The vast majority of Monaghan county councillors were so set on rezoning flood plain land that then-environment minister Dick Roche threatened to scrap the council's proposed development plan in 2006.
Tullamore town and Offaly councils both voted in favour of zoning a flood plain outside Tullamore for development last year despite warnings from the Office of Public Works on flood risks.
Laois County Council granted permission to Tesco to build a supermarket on a flood plain in Portarlington last February. It would counter any flooding risk with a pump system, the grocery chain said. An Bord Pleanala eventually overruled the permission.
********
THE Dublin butcher dynasty that owns FXB steak restaurant on Pembroke Street are clashing with the proprietor of nearby French restaurant Chez Max over major expansion plans.
The Butler siblings are planning a three-storey rear extension, an external deck on the first floor and refurbishment on the property. It backs out on to Max Delaloubie's restaurant on Baggot Street and he's appealing the permission.
********
SEVERAL Irish estate agents had been selling apartments at the Trampolin Hills Golf Resort in Murcia, Spain, which has gone into administration. The 2,500 units sold off plans started at €112,000 each. Investors who have paid deposits have until December 2 to register to be added to the list of creditors.
Antonio Guillen, a Manchester-based solicitor representing some investors, said between 50 and 100 Irish buyers were involved.
********
DELL'S massive plant in Limerick is on the market. It is being marketed by DTZ Sherry FitzGerald as EuroTech Ireland, and a website under that name has been set up to boost its appeal as a potential home for a new multinational.
The 36,326sqm plant at Raheen Business Park stands on 12 hectares. The computer giant is in the process of winding down its business and jobs at the plant in January. Commercial property sources suggest a price tag of €12m.
- Jane Suiter
Originally published in
