Bourke checks back in to Bellinter House

Jay Bourke, the high-profile restaurateur and bar owner, mostly tries to keep his head down these days after an interesting couple of years. And he mostly succeeds.

He has been back in the news in recent months, however, in relation to Bellinter House, the Meath boutique hotel he opened in the boom with impresario and Electric Picnic founder John Reynolds.

Bourke recently got the keys back for his beloved Bellinter, after its operating company, DCM Hotels, vacated the premises in early January.

DCM and Bourke settled a lawsuit last year after falling out over whether or not DCM had a five-year lease for the premises, which the hotel’s owners denied it had.

It was alleged in court by lawyers for DCM that its former general manager, Cora Dwyer, was once asked by Bourke "now what are you going to do for Uncle Jay?" after she obtained an agreement to run it.

The case was settled a few weeks later, with DCM agreeing to leave the premises, the court was told.

Our spies tell us that Bourke and Reynolds have now retained Firebreak, the consultancy run by former Capital Bars financial chief, Adrian Shanagher, to run Bellinter. Shanagher took possession of it from DCM last month.

Bourke politely confirmed that Shanagher is running Bellinter on behalf of himself and Reynolds.

“But I can’t say any more about it,” he said.

Bellinter House Ltd, Bourke and Reynolds’s original operating company for the hotel, went into liquidation in 2010.

Companies Office records, however, show the two men have in recent weeks registered a new company, The Bellinter Hotel.

The trendy venue, which was originally backed with loans from Bank of Scotland, is rumoured to be up for grabs.

Bourke said he is not involved in any consortium that might look to buy out its debt.

Onwards and upwards.