John Fleming avoids the ominous nature of Friday the 13th

NOVEMBER, Friday 13, 2009, might have gone down as a fateful, black day in west Cork – but developer John Fleming bucked the ominous nature of the date when the High Court approved a rescue plan for his troubled companies.

However, while Friday the 13th was won, the group’s rescue plan is outlined over a 10-year timespan with its banks.

“We’re delighted with the ruling, it seem to be a very clear-cut judgment but there’s a long road ahead, and it won’t be easy,” admitted senior Fleming director, Vincent O’Donovan, on a train journey home to Cork.

Ever before that clock starts to tick and calendar pages get turned, ACC, which is owed €22 million, has up until 2pm on Monday next, November 16, to decide whether or not to appeal yesterday’s 22-page rescue plan ruling by Mr Justice Brian McGovern to the Supreme Court.

Within minutes of the decision emerging in Dublin around noon, phone calls, texts and emails of congratulations, good wishes and sighs of relief went hopping back and forth to the firm’s base in Bandon and to the wider west Cork hinterland where Fleming had been described as “the only show in town”.

Having provided things locally as diverse as a top hotel, a technology park, housing, commercial developments, piers and farmers’ hay sheds, one of Fleming’s latest contracts was for new pitches, stand, gym and top-notch facilities for Clonakilty GAA club.

Yesterday, a wider west Cork team applauded his win.

Many of the messages of congratulation came from people owed a lot of money by Fleming’s assorted companies, and who now at least stand to get 25c in the euro owed to them, in several tranches.

John Fleming’s group of some 31 companies employs around 500, with at least 300 of this sizeable number within Co Cork, with west Cork natives very much to the fore.

Earlier this month, 100 of Fleming’s creditors attended a High Court hearing in the Four Courts, most travelling up from west Cork, in a remarkable court display of support and goodwill for the company. It has debts of €1bn, and a severely troubled south Dublin site which will take years to complete, as well as viable operations, such as Fusion and Vision, which manufactures modular housing for the British market, in a factory in Cork’s Ringaskiddy.

Back in October at an initial creditors’ meeting, lawyers representing ACC Bank were almost lynched when they signalled their opposition to the Fleming rescue plan and sought to be considered as unsecured creditors.

ACC first started lending to the Fleming Group only about 18 months ago, it is understood, and the group’s three other principal banks, Anglo Irish, AIB and Bank of Scotland Ireland have supported the rescue plan, pledging to make further working capital available.

“We’d like to thank all of the people who showed such fantastic support to us, since July and in the last month and more, including friends, employees, contractors and creditors; there’s still going to be tough years ahead, it will, indeed, be a long road but we really do appreciate all the backing we’ve been shown,” said Fleming’s Vincent O’Donovan.