ZONED land bought for €21m in 2004, at the height of the boom when Munster developer John Barry of Castlelands Construction was building up to 700 houses a year, has eventually come back to market for just 7% of that peak value, €1.5 million.

A DEAL worth around €16m has been reached on the first bank/receiver sale of an entire apartment and retail scheme in Cork, at suburban Dennehy’s Cross.

CHAIRMAN Doug Ellis has insisted he will not sell Aston Villa to anyone he fears is only looking to asset-strip the club.

Aston Villa fans and shareholders are “baffled” by the club’s failure to retain the services of midfielder Eirik Bakke for the remainder of the season.

TWO Irish brothers are set to complete a £64 million (€94 million) takeover of English Premiership club Aston Villa this week after seeing off Russian competition.