Hearing on petition to wind up O'Reilly firm

A PETITION has been made for the winding up of part of the business empire of Jerry O’Reilly, the prominent developer and long-time associate of Bernard McNamara.

The petition to wind up loss-making Jeremiah O’Reilly Associates was presented to the High Court last month, with a hearing on the matter due on January 17th. The unnamed petitioner is represented by Waterford legal firm MR Keller & Son.

Efforts to contact Mr O’Reilly last night were unsuccessful, but one property source suggested the petition was connected to a foreign property deal in which Jeremiah O’Reilly Associates acted as an agent and that it would be vigorously opposed.

Jeremiah O’Reilly Associates forms part of a substantial web of business interests controlled by Mr O’Reilly, who is a shareholder in supermarket chain Superquinn and in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel.

The firm is involved in property management, architectural consultancy and building contracting, according to Companies Office documents.

As well as Mr O’Reilly, the company’s directors are listed as Eamon Shields and Thomas Walsh.

The most recent accounts available for the company show it had debt of €31.6 million due within a year of the end of 2008, €26.6 million of which fell under directors’ current accounts.

They also show that AIB, the main banker to the company, had rolled up interest on its loans since March 2009.

The accounts record short-term bank loans and overdrafts of €1.9 million at the end of 2008, and longer-term bank loans of €14.4 million.

The bank loans are secured both on the assets of the company and by personal guarantees from Mr O’Reilly, the accounts state.

A further note flags an uncertainty in the company’s ability to collect a €32.8 million debt due to it from its parent, Gamine, “due to the decline in the property market”.

Jeremiah O’Reilly Associates reported an operating loss of €16.6 million for 2008, which compared to a loss just shy of €1 million in the preceding year.

Shareholders’ funds at the end of the year were in deficit by €5.9 million, having recorded a surplus of €11.7 million in 2007.

The value of work in progress fell substantially in the year in question, declining from €10.6 million to €3.4 million. This 2008 figure related to a 24-acre site at Ballymadun, Co Meath, and to consultancy fees which had yet to be billed.

Mr O’Reilly was associated with Mr McNamara, whose main business went into receivership last year, on a large number of ventures, including the Elm Park development in south Dublin.