Partner in hazardous Priory Hall scheme discharged from bankruptcy

ONE OF the developers behind the Priory Hall apartment complex that was last year declared a fire hazard has emerged from bankruptcy in Britain.

Larry O’Mahony is a long-time associate of Tom McFeely and was involved with him in Coalport, the company that built Priory Hall in Donaghmede, Dublin, and which residents had to vacate after it was found to be unsafe.

Mr O’Mahony’s involvement with Coalport ended in 2009 and last month a court cleared him of wrongdoing in relation to Priory Hall. Mr McFeely – an IRA hunger striker turned developer – was fined €3,000 and received a suspended term for planning offences related to the development.

Yesterday, Macclesfield Crown Court, Cheshire, in the north of England, discharged Mr O’Mahony from bankruptcy.

The same court declared him bankrupt 12 months ago.

The ruling gives him a clean financial sheet with any creditor involved in the bankruptcy settlement. However, he could be subject to some subsequent orders in relation to his income and debts, depending on the circumstances.

While Mr O’Mahony has an Irish address on Shrewsbury Road, in the prosperous Ballsbridge neighbourhood on Dublin’s south side, he had to be normally resident in Britain to be declared bankrupt there.

Official documents show that he has a British address at Apartment 51, Central Place, Station Road, Wilmslow, which is just to the south of Manchester.

He is one of a string of Irish developers and business people who moved to Britain to take advantage of its easier personal insolvency regime. The bankruptcy period there is two years, compared to 12 years in the Republic.

Dutch-owned ACCBank obtained a judgment for more than €6 million against Mr O’Mahony and Mr McFeely in 2009. The pair were involved in a number of developments and companies together.

Six years ago they joined forces with solicitor and property dealer Noel Smyth in a plan to redevelop the Square shopping centre in the Dublin suburb of Tallaght.

They were involved in the project through a company called Aifca, which Liam Carroll – whose Zoe Developments empire collapsed spectacularly in 2009 – was subsequently reported to have acquired.

Aifca was dissolved in January, but returns list Mr O’Mahony, Mr McFeely and Mr Carroll as directors.

The Tallaght project ended in a dispute and Mr Smyth’s company, Redfern, sued Mr O’Mahony, Mr McFeely and Mr Carroll for €140 million. The case was dismissed, but Mr Justice Brian McGovern criticised the conduct of all parties involved.

The National Asset Management Agency acquired some bank debts owed by Mr O’Mahony and Mr McFeely’s businesses, which include the Tallaght Plaza Hotel Ltd and Codex Taverns.