Around the Block

Race on for top job in the city
The race is on for the top job in local government following John Fitzgerald's decision to stand down as Dublin city manager. There will be plenty of runners for the job with a salary of €150,000-€200,000 - well below the take home pay of many run-of-the-mill chief executives and buttons to what a good planning consultant pulls in.

The names being mentioned include aides-de-camp Alan Taylor (Dublin city valuer), Sean Carey (planning manager) and Dick Gleeson (chief planner). Others likely to throw their hats in the ring will be the former director of traffic, Eoin Keegan, now county manager in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, Fingal county manger John Tierney, who previously served in Galway, and Paul Moloney, chief executive of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. The fact that Keegan, Tierney and Moloney have only been in their present jobs for fairly brief periods and have not had time to show their mettle could put them at a disadvantage. But Fitzgerald will be a hard act to follow after what has been the most successful decade by a city manager in modern times. Now, John, what job would you like next? Let's hope it's within walking distance of his beloved Chapter One Restaurant.

Commuter belt queues

Queues are here again, this time in the wider commuter belt where young buyers are facing competition to buy semis. Last week cars rolled up days early to Coonan Auctioneers' launches in Leixlip and Kilcock with queues starting on Thursday for the Saturday viewing at Ryebridge in Kilcock, where Coonans had around 50 houses for sale. With 50 in line by Friday morning, Will Coonan opened up and sold what he had. The same happened at Louisa Park in Leixlip, where Coonans sold 30 apartments to the first in the queue. Potential SSIA windfalls plus parental hand-outs gave first-timers about €70,000 extra to spend, says Will Coonan. ICo Laois, a starter scheme with a high-spec finish at Ballybrittas called Graigavern Lodge was an instant sellout with all three-bed semis sold before 6am and over 70 houses gone by close of day. The builder, Mick Cox of Boderg, has been building in London for years and had a quality control team from the UK to oversee the finish at Graigavern where three-bed semis started at €269,000. It's a great location too, says selling agent John Dunne of Hume Auctioneers, within reach of Monasterevin.

Stars steal the show

Estate agents are getting their feet back under the desk after the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute's weekend in Barcelona. This was a relaxed event for the 100 or so delegates from all over the country with the programme featuring several lunches and dinners, wine galore and a tour of the city with a nod towards the boom in the Docklands. But the highlight for many was finding themselves in the same hotel as the Real Madrid football team who were in town to play Barcelona. As Beckham, Zidane, Ronaldo et al checked in, to a fanfare of paparazzi, TV cameras and security, the Irish contingent in the lobby gave them a rousing Ole, Ole Ole. Several Irish males said the players were small and insignificant looking. Strangely enough, the women disagreed! Next year the conference will be held in Kilkenny. Meanwhile president James O'Halloran will shortly hand over his chain to John Dawson of Carlow, who will host next year's conference. He will be followed by Robert Ganly of Ganly Walters, with Edward Carey of Enfield due to take over in 2008.