Harry Crosbie took no salary for nearly three years from his last remaining business, the Vicar Street music venue in Dublin, but did draw €1.7m from it to pay for his living and trading expenses, the Commercial Court has heard.

POLITICS the world over is full of guff. Full of bluster, self-serving statements, can-kicking, lies, and murky hypocrisy. Our Irish brand of politics is no different.

The location of two, 19th century stone warehouse buildings (plus an investment property currently let out as an adult shop,) on a central 0.42 of a Cork city centre acre put up for imaginative redevelopment is what underpins an asking price close to €2m, for the property and site’s owners and vendors, Cork City Council.

The Government will today announce initiatives to build and buy thousands of houses and units in a short space of time to tackle homelessness and social housing waiting lists.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has rejected opposition calls for a commission of inquiry into the sale of Nama’s Northern loan book following the arrests of two men in a fraud probe linked to the sale.

Ireland’s largest hotel operator, Dalata, will have spent up to €90m on Cork city hotels by next year, spanning purchases, upgrades and completion of its Beasley St hotel site off Cork’s South Mall and Parnell Place (pictured) where a €10.2m purchase from Nama has finally just completed.

During the election campaign, there was no mention by any of the politicos vying for power of the other acute housing crisis which must surely be a ticking time bomb. Priory Hall and Longboat Quay are only the tip of the iceberg.

Over 70% of the 96 Nama debtors who declared themselves bankrupt have been discharged from their bankruptcy.

“All the evidence suggests that when this matter first arose the main focus was not the safety of residents, but the imperative to keep things under wraps because of the scandal “.

Local authorities have been called upon to explain why they have turned down accepting some 4,000 properties for social housing in recent years.

The drip feed of information regarding Nama matters is deeply disturbing, given this publicly funded body claims to be acting in the interest of citizens. 

I hope, when the refugees are being divvied up in Ireland, that the stretch of north-west Mayo along the Wild Atlantic Way, from Ballycastle to Bangor Erris, is not forgotten, as is usually the case.

Some of the big names behind the Irish bubble are coming back into the spotlight, but we need to be careful about the ‘globalisation’ of the property market, writes Michael Byrne

Today, Kehlan Kirwan looks back on a good week for Ireland, with a number of job announcements and positive growth figures suggesting the economy is powering up. Kehlan argues, however, that all is not what it seems.

Enda Kenny yesterday rejected claims Fine Gael was as close to developers as Fianna Fáil, despite reversing a decision to scrap a lucrative fundraising golf event under his watch.

Pat Daly (Letters, July 13) is another who trots out “Greek debt” as a catch-all slogan without actually understanding where this debt came from and that it is made up of two unrelated elements.

The early decision to ask the UK’s top law enforcement body to lead the investigation into allegations of corruption around the largest ever property deal in the North stands in stark contrast to our relaxed attitude to the allegations.

The Government has rejected mounting demands for a full State inquiry into the biggest property deal in the country’s history.

Public memory is subservient to current problems and what yesterday attracted all of our attention shrinks, writes Terry Prone

New figures suggest Nama is less exposed to rural property developments outside of the big cities than once thought.

If Government is ramping up spending in the run up to a 2016 election, it should be directed at capital projects, rather than public sector pay.

Two leading national newspapers have rejected claims they bought into the property boom, despite one purchasing a property website for €40m and another holding a “glittering” award gala for developers.

With plenty of space on three levels, and plenty of bedrooms, No 5, Crawford Manor, is a well-laid-out family home almost with rooms to spare, says Tommy Barker.

A long-serving county councillor has accused the Department of Education of turning its back on an east Cork village by failing to provide it with a national school.

HAS it come to this Enda — channelling your inner Bob Geldof to win back public favour?

Millstreet, Cork, €69,500-145,000

The Department of Finance is weighing up cutting or abolishing an 80% windfall tax on land rezoning profits as the Government seeks to increase the housing supply amid a price surge.

A Bernard McNamara company, Aroana Limited now in Nama, paid €9.16m in 2005 for the former Scottish Legal Life-owned premises at 18/19 College Green, Dublin, and never took up legal title to it, the High Court was told yesterday.

A new drive to use prime Nama land banks for the building of tens of thousands of affordable homes for first-time buyers has been urged in order to head-off a property bubble.

Traffic and building shoulder height issues have been raised in a submission by management of Cork’s Elysian development in relation to revised office block plans for a neighbouring city centre site.

Travel might broaden the mind, but it also has a sneaky tendency to lighten the wallet. Travel writer Clare O’Reilly fills you in on how you can use the powers of the internet to plan a holiday with a difference.

Sq m: 69 (750 sq ft)

As Limerick city centre stands on the cusp of massive transformation through major initiatives by the Limerick City/County Council and the University of Limerick, three businesswomen who steered commercial ventures for decades amid great challenges, are now looking forward to exciting times in the projected new capital of the Mid-West.

Property investor Paddy McKillen claims communications between certain officials of Department of Finance, Nama, and representatives of the Barclay brothers, relating to the sale of his loans by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation were unlawful and improper.

Ireland’s first property investment trust Green REIT has bought five Dublin-based properties from Danske Bank for €23m, significantly boosting its asset portfolio.

IBRC is seeking to “grind down” the family of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn in the long-running litigation between the sides so as to make the family bankrupt and unable to pursue their case against the bank, it has been claimed before the High Court.

Dublin will be the second most attractive market in Europe for property investors over the next year, according to a major new study.

Several horses which were among 84 seized during a major animal welfare crackdown in Cork yesterday will have be put down.

Up to 70 horses have been impounded following a crackdown on animal welfare in Cork city.

A court action to have bankrupt developer Tom McFeely jailed over an unpaid debt will resume next month.

The new owners of Fota Island Resort are planning on investing millions of euro developing the grounds of the hotel, adding a destination restaurant, and bringing an international golf tournament back to Cork.