Agents move swiftly to fill key vacancies

Savills has moved to fill the vacancy left by Ronan O’Hara after his surprise departure to Sherry FitzGerald, by appointing Harriet Grant – formerly divisional director at Knight Frank – as head of its country houses, farms and estates division.

In turn, Savills stalwart Pat O’Hagan will become regional sales manager and head auctioneer.

Grant is well known on the country houses circuit having been most recently involved in the sale of St David’s and the Gurthalougha Estate on Lough Derg.

Two high profile moves indeed, but does this mean Savills will not be appointing a direct replacement for O’Hara on the Blackrock patch where he operated for years?

Given that Joe Beirne Wade Wise of Beirne Wise fame, have just opened a second office in Terry Halpenny’s former office on Carysfort Ave in Blackrock, the timing for them would seem perfect.

Halpenny has been operating in Blackrock for the past 35 years, and no doubt Wise will be keeping a close eye on his former Savills colleagues as Beirne Wise move to build a presence in the area.

Meanwhile, Knight Frank has made an announcement of its own with the appointment of Charles Erwin, as country and residential property surveyor to its Ireland country department. Erwin joins the company from Sherry FitzGerald, but he also carries connections to this parish as the grandson of former (and legendary) Irish Times chairman, Major Tom McDowell, and the son of Karen Erwin, who was deputy managing director of the paper for many years.