NAMA, Owen O'Callaghan, Property

NAMA, Owen O'Callaghan, Property

NAMA has put a block of loans linked to Cork developer and Mahon Tribunal witness Owen O'Callaghan up for sale.

The loans are linked to Cork commercial and retail units including the Mahon Retail Park in Mallow, a feted retail precinct at Opera Lane in Cork and properties at Half Moon Street.

The loans have an approximate value of €300m, it is understood. They are performing, with 95pc of the underlying properties rented out to tenants.

Nama is speeding up the sale of its remaining loans and assets, insiders say. Most should be sold before the next general election.

Also coming up for sale in the next six months are loans linked to highly valuable Dundrum Town Centre and a group of loans linked to central Dublin office space, thought to be worth around €1.1bn.

Only a portion of loans linked to O'Callaghan Properties entered Nama.

Owen O'Callaghan was one of boom-time Ireland's most prolific retail park developers.

His company, O'Callaghan Properties, built Cork's Merchant's Quay Shopping Centre, Dublin's Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and Athlone's Golden Island development.

It recently lost out on a major regeneration contract for Cork to Heineken Ireland/Bam, which is building a €50m event space at the historic Beamish & Crawford site on Cork's South Main Street.

The developer is well-known for his involvement in the Mahon Tribunal, which found that made large payments to disgraced lobbyist Frank Dunlop in a bid for the support of politicians for the rezoning of land at Quarryvale, now called Liffey Valley.

O'Callaghan rejected the findings but the High Court threw out his application to have them set aside in 2012.

In a statement the developer said he views Nama's decision to put the loan portfolio on the market "very positively."

"These loans have always been and are fully performing and the suite of assets covered by the loans which are now for sale are amongst the best performing retail and commercial assets in the country.

"We had no discretion in this matter because of legislation enacted following the collapse of the Irish banks which meant that all commercial development loans relating to these banks now reside in Nama.

"The reality for businesses like ours and for many other businesses is that we have been effectively operating without Irish banks for several years since their collapse. That has been a huge inhibition on business development.

"The sale of these loans now means that there will be new sources of investment for our companies and we look forward to working with our new investors to maximise the commercial value of the assets in question."

"We expect a lot of interest in this portfolio as the loans relate to premium assets in outstanding locations. O'Callaghan Properties continued to develop many of these assets even during the economic crisis, and successfully brought them to completion.

"The 95pc occupancy rate across the portfolio is a testament to the assets' quality and location. The arrival of new investors will not only be good for our business but will be good for Cork Inc. and the other locations we operate in, and will facilitate further growth in key development projects we have planned."

NAMA, High Court, Anglo Irish Bank, john flynn, leona flynn

NAMA, John Flynn, Leona Flynn

Leona Flynn, wife of property developer John Flynn, has lost her case against NAMA after the High Court ruled that Mrs Flynn was a borrower of NAMA in respect of the Belfield Office Park loan.

Mrs Flynn, whose family are being pursued by NAMA for €22m, took the legal action against NAMA contending that she was not a debtor of NAMA.

She was asking the court to declare that she was no longer the owner of the Belfield shareholding, having transferred her 10 per cent interest in Belfied Office Park to her husband.

However, in a judgement issued today in the High Court, Mr Justice Cregan ruled that Mrs Flynn is 'indebted' to NAMA in respect of the Belfield Office Park loan.

It also noted that while an agreement between John and Leona Flynn to transfer her interest in Belfast Office Park was entered into in September 2007, it was not binding on Anglo Irish Bank.

The court concluded that there was no evidence that David Drumm, then Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Irish Bank, had agreed to release Mrs Flynn from her guarantees and indemnities to the bank.

The Flynns' submission that NAMA had engaged in deliberate overcharging was also rejected.

However, the judgment found that Nama gave misleading reasons for demanding repayment of loans in two letters it sent to the Flynns.

The Judge concluded in setting out "incorrect and misleading reasons" the agency acted "unfairly and unlawfully in breach of its duty of transparency."

The judge said the agency denied the Flynns the right to be heard.

Keywords: NAMA, High Court, Anglo Irish Bank, john flynn, leona flynn

Ireland Economy, Banking, NAMA, ESM, EU, Department of Finance

Ireland Economy, Banking, NAMA, ESM, EU, Department of Finance

Ireland should not get retrospective bank deal, warns German politician

Ireland should not get a retrospective recapitalisation of its bank debt, one of Germany’s most influential politicians has said:

“The ESM is an instrument for the future” said Dr Joachim Pfeiffer, economic policy spokesman for Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats party.

“Ireland has to solve this on its own like Greece, Portugal, Spain and Germany” he said. “I don’t see it as a moral obligation”.

Mr Pfeiffer said that the success of NAMA at selling off the assets under its control points to the country’s ability to clear its debts itself.

He added that the extension of EU loans and the promissory note deal have already helped Ireland to reduce its debt burden.

Mr Pfeiffer was speaking on a brief visit to Dublin, after meetings with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and senior NAMA officials as well as Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher.

His comments pour cold water on hopes for a deal on Ireland’s legacy bank debt, stemming from the government’s decision to pump billions into AIB and Bank of Ireland at the height of the crisis.

The Department of Finance has repeatedly stated that such a deal is not off the table.

Priory Hall Dublin, Tom McFeely, Criminal Assets Bureau, NAMA, Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams TD

Priory Hall Dublin, Tom McFeely, Criminal Assets Bureau

Sinn Fein Bagman Tom McFeely left €200,000 in his Mansion, the Sinn Fein Bagman handed over large amounts of cash to Sinn Fein in the run up to the General Election in 2011 which resulted in 14 Sinn Fein TDs getting elected. McFeely’s fortune was made off the back of good and decent hard working people who have now been left homeless after being evacuated from their Priory Hall Homes.

A search by the Criminal Assets Bureau of the former home of controversial Priory Hall developer Thomas McFeely is continuing this afternoon after officers found €60,000 in cash just days after a plumber found €140,000.

The €60,000 find was made yesterday, just days after a plumber carrying out renovations for the new owners of the luxury property on Dublin’s exclusive Ailesbury Road in Ballsbridge, found €140,000 in €50 notes hidden in the bathroom.

It is understood the latest haul, which was made up of €50 notes wrapped in rubber bands and plastic bags, was also found in the bathroom.

Officers from CAB were this afternoon continuing to search the property, once valued at €15 million but sold last year for €2.5 million.

The gardens and drains of the extensive red brick property were searched throughout today with teams of gardai seen removing bags from inside the home and using heavy tools including long handled shovels, axes and ladders.

Mr McFeely, said to have debts of some €200 million, was adjudicated bankrupt at the High Court here in August 2012.

After a legal battle, his home was then repossessed by the National Assets Management Agency as part of its efforts to enforce a €9.5 million judgment obtained against him over unpaid loans.

After the €140,00 was found on September 20th, it was lodged in a bank account under the control of the official assignee in bankruptcy pending a decision on what should happen to it. The €60,000 is expected to be similarly lodged.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said today Nama would be interested in the discoveries after taking control of Mr McFeely’s loans.

“I understand that an inch-by-inch survey, an investigation, has been carried out both in this residence and on the grounds of the premises to see if there is any more here,” Mr Kenny said.

“I think all of that smacks of what happened during the so-called Tiger years, when you had profligacy and greed and money sloshing around in so many places, that this is further evidence of what happened.”

Mr McFeely - a former IRA hunger-striker - was involved in the development of Priory Hall in Donaghmede which was evacuated almost two years ago after Dublin City Council raised concerns in the High Court about fire safety and other matters.

About 180 families had to leave their homes and many continue to campaign for suitable alternative accommodation.

Mr McFeely avoided going back behind bars last July after successfully overturning a contempt of court judgment. The developer appealed against a judgment that he broke court orders.

He had been ordered by the High Court in Dublin to carry out remedial works at Priory Hall, but was sentenced and fined when he did not.

Barristers for Mr McFeely appealed it was impossible for their client to comply with orders because he had been evicted from the site.