A MELBOURNE-based property group has emerged as the latest potential buyer for the Slieve Russell Hotel.
The Brady Group, owned by Irishman Tony Brady and his family, has bid below the €35 million asking price set by agents for former billionaire Seán Quinn’s once most prized possession, according to the Sunday Times newspaper.
The company is one of Australia’s largest private property development companies. The Cavan resort was put on the market in April on behalf of the liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.
Mr Brady, who is in his 70s, is keen to buy a property in his native country, the report said.
A native of Redhills, whose brother Ollie Brady was Cavan’s first All Star, Mr Brady emigrated to Australia as a bricklayer in the 1970s. He worked hard to establish Brady Group into what has become one of the largest private developers in Australia’s second-most populous city.
He founded Brady Hotels & Apartments in 2014, and already operates a boutique collection of hotels and apartments across four locations in Melbourne.
Earlier this month, Mr Quinn told the Herald: “Whoever buys the Slieve Russell, good luck to them. It’s out of my hands now. There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s time to move on and look to the future.
“A situation exists in the Slieve Russell Hotel, where local business has reduced by more than two-thirds. This is demonstrated by golf membership down from 760 to 240.
“Nobody seems to care or be held responsible.”
One of Ireland’s wealthiest businessmen, J.P. McManus, has previously been mooted as a potential buyer for the 5-star hotel in Ballyconnell, Cavan.
First opened in 1990, the hotel has 224 bedrooms, as well as banqueting and leisure facilities, and is situated on 300 acres of land.
Seán Gallagher, an entrepreneur and property investor from Ballyhaise in Cavan, also had expressed interest in buying the Slieve Russell.
Mr Quinn confirmed to the Anglo-Celt newspaper he had personally backed the bid by the failed presidential candidate after securing “agreement in principle” from “a number of cash-rich individuals”.
However, it’s understood that the bid, entered via Savills, was not accepted.
Former UFC fighter Conor McGregor was another who was in the running to buy the local hotel following a post shared on social media earlier this year.
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