The hotels group backed by Virgin Media owner John Malone has paid around €50m for the five-star Powerscourt Hotel in Wicklow.

AN irreplaceable part of Ireland’s patrimony is to be auctioned off in London, though last Saturday President Michael D Higgins presided at the 20th anniversary celebration of the Heritage Council, writes Gerard Howlin.

Five-star luxury and thatched Irish houses don’t normally go hand in hand – with the latter, you normally take the rough (and sometimes uncombed) with the smooth.