Psychics Live tycoon to buy Daniel's ?3m home
Sunday February 25 2007
GRANNY'S favourite crooner Daniel O'Donnell has sold his plush Donegal home for almost ?3m to the businessman behind Irish Psychics Live.
The Cruit island mansion with spectacular gardens overlooking the Atlantic had been on the market since August last year. More Hollywood hills in design than Donegal ethnic, it failed to attract a buyer until now.
But the Sunday Independent has learned that millionaire businessman Tom Higgins - the controversial figure behind the psychics phone line service - has acquired the house from the clean-cut country singer for close to the ?3m asking price.
'Wee Daniel', one of the biggest selling singers in the business, originally put his home on the market because he wished to find somewhere smaller to live. With eight bedrooms, three reception rooms and a summer house, the mansion proved simply too big for O'Donnell, his wife Majella McLennan and her two teenage children from a previous marriage.
Pat O'Hagan from Savills Hamilton Osborne King secured the sale. The addition of Daniel O'Donnell's luxury Donegal home to his property portfolio brings to 10 the number of homes Higgins owns around the world.
These include a large house with a sweeping driveway in Wicklow from where he runs his psychics and premium-phone services empire as well as properties in Alicante and Malaga in Spain.
Daniel O'Donnell too has substantial property interests including a large pad in Tenerife where he met his met his wife while on holiday. Proceeds from the sale will add to his already vast fortune garnered from numerous top 10 hits in Ireland, the UK and the United States.
The house, which is called Donegal Shore House, was painstakingly planned by O'Donnell. Sitting on a one-acre site, its summer house and detached three-car garage are larger than the average home. The interior of the home predominantly features yellow - O'Donnell's favourite colour - along with a more neutral white theme. The house comes with unique views of the ocean from its gardens terraced lawns and twin paved cliff-top seating areas.
Higgins, who plans to become Ireland's first space tourist, splashed out ?250,000 with Richard Branson's space tours business Virgin Galactica.
Earlier last week he appeared on Prime Time to defend his premium text message services. However, he is best known for Irish Psychics Live - the psychic chat-line service that has made him a low-profile millionaire.
According to its records, this company made an after-tax profit of ?2.6m last year.
Last year Pat Kenny's radio show was forced by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission to issue an embarrassing apology to Higgins after it found the RTE star had treated him in an "unfair manner" during a live interview. Prior to reading out the judgment, Pat Kenny said: "To put it at its kindest, the 'so-called' psychic service . . . was shown to be valueless."
Higgins, who owns Realm Communications which runs Irish Psychics Live, responded by saying: "It is absolutely outrageous that RTE and Mr Kenny should be able to make a mockery of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission ruling and complaints procedure in this way."
Contacted about his new purchase this weekend, Higgins declined to comment.
Tom Lyons is Business Editor
with NewsTalk 106-108FM.
