Former partner: ‘Irvine forced me into deal’

THE former business partner of Eddie Irvine has claimed he was forced into giving the retired racing driver a 50% shareholding in two Dublin pubs in return for a €500,000 loan.

John Foley told the Employment Appeals Tribunal yesterday that he was unhappy at having to give his former friend such a large interest in his business. "I got into a take-it-or-leave-it scenario," he told an EAT hearing in Dublin.

Mr Foley claims he was unfairly sacked from his €75,000-a-year position as manager of Cocoon and O'Reilly pubs in Dublin in April 2003 by the other directors of Calview Investments the company he co-owns with Mr Irvine.

Lawyers for Calview insist Mr Foley was dismissed for bouncing cheques in Cocoon as well as using the company's money to pay his personal debts. However, Mr Foley claims he was removed from his job in order to allow Mr Irvine take control of the pubs.

The tribunal heard yesterday that the former Grand Prix star rejected Mr Foley's initial offer of a 20% shareholding in the business in return for his investment of €500,000.

Mr Foley said he eventually agreed to giving Mr Irvine a half-share and voting rights because he was concerned about delays for his plans to develop a major nightclub in one of the pubs.

The 36-year-old entrepreneur said he had bought the Cocoon bar in Duke Lane, off Grafton Street, in 1996 as he intended to acquire an adjoining property to convert both premises into a superpub.

Mr Foley said the buildings were in a perfect part of Dublin situated between the city's top two nightclubs, Lillie's Bordello and Renards.

Mr Foley said he got to know the former Formula One racing star whom he calls Edmund through a mutual friend in the mid-1990s.

In 2000, he had brought Mr Irvine to Cocoon and explained he was experiencing serious cash flow problems with his plans to develop a nightclub at the site. Mr Foley said they had become very good friends as Mr Irvine had been going through an emotional time due to his break-up with a girlfriend.

After a brief discussion, the racing driver offered to give his friend €250,000 towards the project.

A few months later, he agreed to give Mr Foley another €250,000 an investment which eventually reached €1.65m.

Mr Foley said he was delighted with his friend's investment because he believed the racing driver's profile would be good for the proposed nightclub.

He claimed Cocoon was the "No 1 bar in Dublin" with a stylish, fashionable reputation.

Mr Foley said they discussed the nightclub project on a regular basis, although Mr Irvine was only concerned with the end result and not the details of the plan.

The hearing was adjourned until a date in November.