A RECEIVER appointed by Investec bank to seize a Dublin property co-owned by Fianna Fáil Senator Ivor Callely is expected to try to maximise the value of the site, possibly by reapplying for planning permission, before seeking to sell it.
Investec took control of the site at 59-60 Clontarf Road last week. The bank is owed some €8 million in loans provided for the site, which the owners planned to redevelop.
The receiver, Simon Coyle, a partner with Dublin accountancy firm Mazars, had no comment to make on his appointment.
The site is owned by a partnership comprising four investors including Mr Callely. Galway-based developer John O’Dolan, who died in tragic circumstances in February, was another investor.
Efforts to contact Mr Callely last night proved unsuccessful.
The purchase of the site, which covers almost an acre, was completed in January 2007 for some €10 million.
The co-investors had sought planning permission to demolish the existing houses on the sea-front site next to St Anthony’s Church in Clontarf and build 44 apartments and three shops on the site.
However, this plan was rejected by An Bord Pleanála late last year after being approved by Dublin City Council.
The planning application was submitted in the name of Mr O’Dolan’s property company O’Dolan International.
Mr Callely lists his share in the property in the Seanad register of interests as an “investment” in co-ownership with three other individuals.
A former Fianna Fáil junior minister, Mr Callely was first elected to the Dáil in 1989 but lost his Dáil seat in the 2007 general election.
He was nominated as a senator by then taoiseach Bertie Ahern. He served as minister of state for health and for transport.
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