Good luck to Frank Doonan, who is leaving the Gunne stable to take a stake in a new American real estate franchise operation in Ireland. ERA Real Estate hopes to attract 100 affiliates in Ireland over the next couple of years.

The job will almost certainly be made easier for Mr Doonan since Mark FitzGerald of Sherry FitzGerald has paved the way for franchising the estate agency business in Ireland. This was an unthinkable development just a few years ago in a notoriously individual business. Since Sherry FitzGerald managed to get its signs up all over the country, franchising has been on the minds of individual agents. A second grouping of estate agents, mainly members of Liam O'Donnell's IPAV (Irish Professional Auctioneers and Valuers), has been considering a similar initiative over the past six months. With ERA now to be launched on the Irish market it might well make good sense for them to hook up with Frank, who has spent the last five years overseeing the growth of Gunne's residential business.

ERA is a truly huge organisation with no less than 12,500 franchised real estate offices all over the world. It is also involved in the hotel, car rental and financial services business.