Tycoon Ronan leaves Ireland

TROUBLED property tycoon, Johnny Ronan, is understood to have left Ireland for now.

His departure follows mounting speculation about his private life as well as NAMA absorbing hundreds of million of euro worth of Treasury Holdings loans, a business he is co-owns.

Several million euro of loans associated with Mr Ronan’s own property speculation are also separately to be subsumed into NAMA.

According to reports in a Sunday newspaper Mr Ronan, 52, left Ireland last Friday afternoon and will not be returning for several months.

In this course of action Mr Ronan has joined a number of other former leading business figures who have left the country.

It is reported Mr Ronan’s decision to leave followed meetings with public relations consultants and his business partner, Richard Barrett.

Prior to his departure Treasury Holdings stated that the company’s co-owner “is to take a break from his business activities for the next few months arising from the recent high-profile media coverage of aspects of his personal life which he believes has the potential to distract attention from his business interests”.

Earlier this month NAMA began the process of transferring Treasury Holdings property loans into the state agency. The loans are among €17 billion associated with the country’s top 10 indebted developers.

Uncompleted developments associated with Treasury Holdings include the Dublin Docklands Development Authority overseen Spencer Dock development.

The tabloid media speculation surrounding Mr Ronan was referred to in the Dáil last week by Labour’s finance spokeswoman Joan Burton.

Referring to Finance Minster Brian Lenihan: “If some of our developers can afford an €60,000 weekend in Marrakech, as reported in the newspapers, how can the minister stand over their being bailed out by NAMA?”