A JUDGMENT mortgage has been registered against the company that operates the Brandon Hotel in Tralee, Co Kerry.

The mortgage was registered to the benefit of Quinn Insurance which obtained a court order for €132,056 against the company in February 2009.

The mortgage was registered in December 2009.

The Brandon Hotel is operated by Prince’s Investments, a company owned by John Byrne and his family.

The most recent filed accounts for Prince’s Investments are for the year ended October 2007, when the company recorded a loss of €1.6 million.

The directors in their report said that increasing competition in the hotel sector was creating a challenge in terms of maintaining sales and profit margins.

At the end of the 2007 financial year the company had shareholders’ funds of €193,506. The notes to the accounts say the shareholders had invested €990,000 by way of a fresh issue of shares during the year and had said they would continue to support the company.

The directors of the company are John Byrne and his son, John P Byrne, while the shares are owned by Ballsbridge Estates, Barreiras Securities, and Carlisle Trust Ltd, all companies associated with Mr Byrne and his family.

Carlisle Trust is at the head of a number of Irish property owning companies which are in turn owned by a Cayman Islands trust.

Mr Byrne (89), is a former associate of the late Des Traynor, architect of the Ansbacher Deposits, and a former friend of the late Charles Haughey.