Florida hair and nail salon closed in 2004

THE hair and nail salon used by Health Minister Mary Harney during a controversial visit to Florida in 2004 has gone out of business, it emerged yesterday.

Ms Harney hired two beauty therapists from the Solutions Beauty Salon to give her hair a wash and blow-dry for official engagements during her stay at the Radisson Hotel in Cocoa Beach as a guest of Fás in 2004.

A bill of $410, which was run up at the salon, was charged to the credit card of senior Fás executive, Greg Craig, who was suspended from his job last Wednesday after breaches of financial controls were uncovered during an audit of the corporate affairs division.

A spokesman for Ms Harney said earlier this week that the cost of her treatments could not have accounted for the total invoice issued by the salon.

The premises have since been taken over by another beauty salon called Salon Innovations.

An assistant there said the €410 bill seemed “quite large for getting your hair washed”.

She said it was possible the reason why the salon closed down was that they had priced their services too high.