Abbeville’s new owner may build guesthouses on estate

A Japanese hotel chain that bought the home of former taoiseach Charles Haughey has no plans to redevelop it but may build guesthouses on the 250-acre Abbeville estate, according to sources in Tokyo.

Toyoko Inn paid €5.5 million for the property in Kinsealy, north Dublin in 2013, but the new owners have only recently been revealed. Mr Haughey lived there for more than 30 years.

The family-owned chain operates about 250 business hotels, mostly in Japan. It is expanding into Europe, with plans to open outlets in Frankfurt, Germany, and Marseille, France, using Ireland as a base.

The connection with Ireland was forged in a personal friendship between the company's founder and chief executive, Norimasa Nishida, and former ambassador to Japan Brendan Scannell, who now chairs Toyoko Inn's international division.

"The two became quite close when Scannell was in Japan," said Hiroaki Tsuneyoshi, managing director of Toyoko Inn International. "That, and Ireland's low taxes are what attracted the company there."

Mr Nishida reportedly toured Ireland with the now retired ambassador, including a stopover at his native Co Kerry.

At some point the Nishida family became interested in buying the Kinsealy estate, which had fallen victim to the Irish property crash. Mr Haughey sold the estate in 2003 for €45 million to pay his legal and tax bills.

Sources said the family had decided to leave the main house on the Abbeville estate untouched. “It’s slapped with preservation orders so they can’t do very much with it,” said one, who requested anonymity. “They have to preserve it and not let it fall down.”

Mr Scannell could not be reached for comment on this article.

Toyoko Inn has an address in Dublin, which is also listed as the address of Doody Crowley accountants.

Eddie Hughes, head of Enterprise Ireland in Tokyo, said Mr Nishida was "very supportive and friendly towards Ireland". He has sponsored a GAA team in Japan and will be grand marshal of next week's St Patrick's Day parade in Tokyo – the largest in Asia.