‘Superpub’ sells for record €8.1m

THE biggest sum ever paid for an Irish pub, €8.1 million, changed hands at an auction in Dublin yesterday when The Playwright Inn in Blackrock came under the hammer.

The premises, described as a ‘superpub’ was purchased by the Moran group in 1994 for just over £1 million.

Last night, Pat Power, a financial executive with the Moran hotel group, said everybody in the company was “over the moon” with the result of yesterday’s auction.

Next Thursday the company hopes to continue its winning trend when the Baroque in Clondalkin and the Pierhouse Hotel in Skerries come up for public auction.

A reserve of €4.5m has been placed on both of these popular premises.

The disposal of pub sales by the Moran Hotel Group was part of the company’s strategy to concentrate on the hotel sector, Mr Power said.

Moran, which reported a €3.9m operating profit in 2003, owns the Red Cow Moran Hotel, Dublin and the Silver Springs Moran Hotel, Cork.

In 1988 Tom Moran bought the Red Cow for £1,050,000, the first million-plus bar purchase in Ireland. The company is also close to purchasing an inner city hotel in Dublin and has been actively expanding its hotel interests in Britain.