The chief executive of the company which has development rights in Belfast's Titanic Quarter has regretted the resignation from its board by Sir Desmond Rea.
Sir Desmond quit his position at the weekend as a non-executive director of Ivy Wood Properties following Garda inquiries into Chesterton Finance, of which Mr Phil Flynn is a director. He stressed he knew of no wrongdoing by anyone at the company and stressed his move was "precautionary".
In his letter of resignation to Harcourt Developments in Dublin, which is a co-owner of Ivy Wood Properties, Sir Desmond explained: "You will no doubt appreciate that, given my role as chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, I cannot afford to bring such publicity, however ill-founded, to the door of the Policing Board."
Mr Mike Smith, chief executive of Titanic Quarter Ltd, said yesterday he noted the statement by Sir Desmond from Ivy Wood Properties Ltd.
Mr Smith said all those involved in the Titanic Quarter project and Harcourt Developments regretted Sir Desmond's decision to resign. The decision was unnecessary and unfortunate, he added.
Mr Smyth said both Titanic Quarter Ltd and Harcourt operate to the highest standards of corporate probity throughout all their respective operations and he welcomed Sir Desmond's affirmation of those standards during all his dealings with Harcourt, Ivy Wood Properties Ltd and the Titanic project.
Speaking in Belfast, Mr Smith said: "It is unfortunate and regrettable that Sir Desmond has decided to take this personal course of action."