Sir Anthony O’Reilly’s short sale in Cork

So it’s farewell for Sir Anthony O’Reilly to Shorecliffe, his six-acre estate in Glandore, west Cork, which, it has recently emerged, has been snapped up by a London-based Irish businessman for €1.75 million.

The deal has been agreed for some time, but contracts have yet to be signed.

The house is mortgaged to AIB, which obtained judgments against O'Reilly and his companies for €45 million, though AIB has so far chosen not to enforce these judgments against him personally as he is co-operating in a grand sell-off of his assets.

Glandore, which John Bruton visited as taoiseach in 1996 to receive a legendary dressing down from O'Reilly, was used by the former billionaire as security for more than €4 million of loans. In terms of a "short sale", this one is a squirt, with €2.25 million still outstanding.

Members of O’Reilly’s family were thought to have retained a small site parcelled off from the estate, so he might still be able to spend some time in the area if he can stomach watching somebody else swanning around his old pile.

Meanwhile, Stephen Vernon, the chairman of Green Property, the owner of Blanchardstown shopping centre, has bought a nearby coastal property for €1.7 million, which he spotted while out sailing on his boat nearby.

Now that’s what you call an impulse buy.