'Auction House' TV show hot topic at agents' Burlo bash

THE talk of the recent Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) annual bash wasn’t so much the state of the economy or the fact that the Burlington Hotel, where the bash was held, had gone into receivership that day .

No, the hot topic was RTÉ 2's The Auction Houseaired a few days earlier, a documentary that showed the efforts of Merlin Group MD Dave Byrne, sales director Ed Byrne and his elder sister Lisa Geoghegan to diversify from car auctions into property and find enough properties for their first auction last November.

The general consensus at the SCSI dinner - which was attended by 900 members - was that Merlin won’t be giving any of the established estate agencies a run for their money any time soon and a few thought their antics and the stream of “colourful” language didn’t do anything to help the public perception of the profession.

There was much guffawing at the fact that sales director Ed Byrne took off on holiday to Thailand just as the auction was about to start.

In the end Merlin got 10 properties and sold four and has another auction planned for March 20th – so it will be interesting to see if the publicity will make or break their plans.

Whether or not they set they property world aligh,t the likeable trio might well have a career in reality TV.

This was the first annual dinner of the SCSI since the merger of the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute and the Society of Chartered Surveyors last year and SCSI President John Curtin gave a rousing speech about how if the Government was serious about addressing unemployment it had to invest in the construction sector and implement a range of related initiatives.

“If the previous government had followed the advice of the Construction Industry Council in 2009 and invested €5 billion in infrastructural project, 70,000 more people would be at work today.

“Given the €2.5 billion which this investment would generate in taxes, the net cost was €2.5 billion. That report is still sitting on a shelf while the 70,000 people in question are unemployed or have emigrated,” Curtin said.

Guest of honour Pat Cox gave the SCSI value for money with a lengthy speech about how the new treaty on stability, coordination and governance in the Economic and Monetary Union had been driven by German concerns .

But with attention spans dwindling and people eyeing up the bar, he showed true political grit, as impervious to the din, he carried on regardless to finish his speech.