Patrick Coveney buys from Niall Wall

It likely will not please the Greencore boss Patrick Coveney to know we have learned he is the buyer of Glenthorne, a plush Ranelagh house recently sold for €3.65 million by Niall Wall, chief executive of Paul Coulson's Ardagh glass group.

Glenthorne sold at auction last month for almost 30 per cent above the guide price of €2.75 million, so Coveney, who recently put his old Rathmines house on the market for €1.3 million, was clearly keen. It is easy to see why. Glenthorne is a beautifully appointed five-bedroom Victorian pile with a mews to the rear.

Coveney, a brother of Minister for Agriculture (and next Taoiseach?) Simon Coveney, bought the house through a solicitor from Arthur Cox, who was holding it in trust. Alas, to the understandable chagrin of the food company boss, Dublin can be a mightily small town at times.

Wall, a long-time right-hand man of the gazillionaire they call the Cooler, still has the house listed as his registered address in the Companies Office, so we were unable to ascertain where he has moved on to. But I bet it’s not too shabby.

Greencore's shares have rocketed in recent years, as Coveney has skilfully turned the company's focus towards the US, having already conquered the UK. A growth strategy exemplified by major sandwich contracts with 7-Eleven and Starbucks should earn Coveney enough cash to keep the lights on at Glenthorne.