No Cannes do for Irish

BACK IN THE days when Irish property was hot, the main players in the market invariably took a break in Cannes for the annual Mipim conference.

This event – the largest in the European calendar – brings together big property investors and developers from all over the world.

No less than 18,000 delegates are in Cannes this week pitching for business and generally schmoozing over a glass or three of champagne. However, this year, only a handful of Irish are in attendance.

Not surprising given that tickets for the event cost the guts of €1,000 and hotels triple their rates for the week.

The few estate agents who are in attendance are busy, we hear, fielding questions about Nama and the state of banking in Ireland.

Caroline McCarthy of CBRE said it was a shame that more Irish were not there to fly the flag at this time.

She was also disappointed that Dublin wasn’t able to rise to its own stand, whereas Belfast is getting a lot of attention at the show which ends today.

It seems like only yesterday that the daily newspaper published by Mipim was featuring bulletins about the investments being made by Derek Quinlan and other leading Irish players.

Not a sign of any of thse guys this year. Come to think oif it, we haven’t seen them in Dublin either.