A Dublin pub yesterday became the first pub in the State to be auctioned live on the Internet. Smyth's, of Haddington Road, off Baggot Street, sold for £3.35 million, one of the highest prices paid for a pub in the capital, reports Eithne Donnellan. The property, which had a reserve price of £2.5 million, was purchased in trust by Tynan Dillon Accountants for a prominent Dublin publican whose identity has not been disclosed.
More than 100 potential buyers attended the auction while a worldwide audience of 5,000 people logged on to the Web to watch the property, on a 3,500 sq ft site, go under the hammer after 47 years' trading.