Bailey brothers seek to re-register Bovale Developments as unlimited

TOM and MICHAEL BAILEY, the controversial builders criticised at the Planning Tribunal, have applied to re-register their company as unlimited.

The application by Bovale Developments to the Companies Registration Office (CRO) will mean that the company does not have to disclose full details in its annual accounts of profits, assets, liabilities and other information.

However, if the firm went bust, the directors would be forced to liquidate their personal assets to pay creditors.

Bovale, one of the largest housebuilders in the Dublin area, joins a long list of large and well-known companies in the State, which have unlimited status. The list includes Treasury Holdings; Larry Goodman’s Irish Food Processors; Toyota distributor Tim Mahony; builder Liam Carroll’s group of companies; Dunnes Stores; Glen Dimplex and the Blarney Woollen Mills.

The Bailey brothers were heavily criticised in the second interim report of the tribunal in September 2002.

The then tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Fergus Flood, found that Michael Bailey had made a corrupt payment to former Fianna Fáil minister Ray Burke and that he obstructed and hindered the tribunal on eight grounds.

He was also found by Mr Flood to have made three corrupt payments to the former planning official, George Redmond, and hindered and obstructed the tribunal on five grounds.

Tom Bailey was found to have obstructed the tribunal on four grounds.

The last set of accounts for Bovale, which cover the year to the end of June 2003, shows it made profits of €55 million on sales of nearly €100 million.

The accounts also showed that the pair donated more than €9,000 to Fianna Fáil during the year.

By changing to unlimited now, the company will not have to reveal its accounts for the year to the end of June 2004.

Bovale was set up by the brothers in 1983 and has been behind many developments in Dublin and the surrounding counties.