The Sisters of Charity have made another killing on their Mount St Anne's convent grounds at Milltown in Dublin. They have just netted over £8 million for 3.5 acres - virtually the same amount they got five years ago for an adjoining 18 acres. Both parcels of land were bought by Michael Cotter of Park Developments, in deals brokered by Hamilton Osborne King.

The Milltown & Ranelagh Alliance of Residents Associations did Cotter a mighty favour by objecting to successive plans during which the price of houses has more than doubled in the area. Next month Park is to release the first phase (that word again) of its apartments on the site, which is seen as one of the best on the south side of the city. Park has planning permission for 471 apartments and houses in total, not to mention what he might build on the newly acquired land.

Meanwhile, in Ranelagh, Capel Developments has lost the first round of its campaign to get planning permission for 224 apartments on the site of the National College of Ireland off Sandford Road. The refusal suggests that if they thin out the scheme, they will eventually get the go-ahead.