Six-figure judgment against Liam Carroll-controlled firm
Wednesday December 03 2008
A company controlled by one of the country's biggest developers will have to shell out over €100,000 following a High Court judgment made against it.
Danninger, the development company controlled by property magnate Liam Carroll has had a €113,506 judgment registered against it in favour of HA O'Neil, a subsidiary of building engineering company, Jones Engineering Group. The judgment is listed in the latest copy of debt watchdog, Stubbs Gazette. A representative of Jones didn't wish to comment on the details of the award.
Mr Carroll will be anxiously watching the outcome of another legal proceeding, in which Danninger is not directly involved, but which could have a serious impact on its business, with a deal of over €60m at stake.
Bohemians Football Club is appealing a court ruling made in favour of property company Albion two weeks ago to the Supreme Court. The club is in dispute with Albion over the collapse of a deal to sell part of Dalymount park in 2001.
Bohemians subsequently agreed a €60m deal with Danninger for the Dalymount sale and building of a new stadium in Harristown.
Danninger is owed €2m in loans which were advanced as part of the sale process. As a big investor in many listed companies, Mr Carroll will have seen his interests hit hard recently.
Having paid €246.8m for his stake of the food group Greencore at around €4.18 per share, the value has now plummeted by €62m, to 98c a share -- a €186m loss.
He also holds 29.8pc of Irish Continental Group, the parent of Irish Ferries.
Yesterday evening, it emerged that two former rival bidders for the ICG -- the group's boss Eamonn Rothwell and businessman Philip Lynch -- have joined forces with a view to launching a bid for the group. It is not known whether Mr Carroll would be willing to sell into any potential offer.
Despite favouring a low profile, Mr Carroll has been a major figure in the Irish property market for over a decade.
His company, Zoe Developments, was a key player in the apartment-building boom of the 1990s. He has also been one of the bigger players in the development of Dublin's south docklands.
Danninger is one of his most active companies, and has been behind developments including the Gasworks in Ringsend in Dublin 4.
- Roisin Burke
