Rocker Clayton is a real Stone Age man
The U2 bassist has hit the wrong notes with his Newgrange-inspired scheme and his latest home improvement plan has been knocked back by the officials
U2 bassist Adam Clayton appears to have a serial renovation gene. Clayton bought Danesmoate House in Rathfarnham in 1984 after the band had rented it to hide away and work on their Joshua Tree album.
He paid what was back then the very high price of IR£380,000 but he has since upgraded it considerably and shows no signs of letting up, or of letting it out.
Only last week he applied for new planning permission to insert a "lozenge aperture" within the main house's first floor stair landing to introduce natural light to the ground floor entrance hall below. The aperture is presumed to be a sideways nod to the Neolithic structures at Newgrange where late Stone Age man is thought to have created it as a symbol of "the moon as a timekeeper". Ahem.
The house, which is hidden away behind Taylor's Pub on the Kellystown Road, may also include a new cast-metal balustrade. But you won't get to see any of that. Over the years, Clayton has transformed the house, installing a top security system around the perimeter fence of the 17-acre estate, sound-proofing his studio and renovating a 19th century estate cottage. But the application was decalred invalid because of paperwork errors, so it's back to square one for Clayton.
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NOEL Dempsey of Noel Dempsey Construction is selling Syngefield House in Birr, Co Offaly. The house, which dates back to the 1750s, is formerly the home of the Synge family on the Syngefield Estate, and sits on five acres of grounds which have not been developed, including some areas of woodland.
Dempsey bought the then dilapidated house, which is a stone's throw from Birr Castle, in 2002 for an undisclosed amount of money. It once boasted 26 rooms and the plan was to restore the house and to have eight bedrooms, a ballroom, gym, pool, cellar and cinema.
He has already spent around €1m on fixing up the shell of the building -- but most of the bedrooms are not yet in place and it is likely to cost at least another €1m to finish.
Offers from prospective boutique hotels are welcome.
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TIMES are apparently very tough for current and former Anglo Irish Bank staff. Many of the bank workers may not have had the slightest idea what Sean FitzPatrick was up to -- but they still find themselves blacklisted when it comes to jobs.
Bankers and regulators are both apparently reluctant to hire former Anglo staffers. However, one fairly senior Anglo employee has resurfaced. The former head of credit investments has landed a job at the local subsidiary of Nigerian firm, Afribank, making him one of the few senior members of the beleaguered institution to find gainful employment elsewhere.
Derivatives Week reports that Andrew Curtin moved to the post of managing director at ANP International (ANPI) -- an IFSC-based subsidiary of Afribank -- in September, having formerly held the post of associate director and head of credit investments at Anglo.
His responsibilities at Anglo included overseeing asset-backed securities and structured credit products.
- JANE SUITER
Originally published in
