Blarney buy first of many?

THE new owner of Blarney Golf Resort, Tommy O’Gorman, hopes to buy several other Irish hotels, if they offer similar good value and prospects.

“I’d never looked at Blarney before last Wednesday when it was brought to my attention, and I bought it on Friday,” said the 62-year-old Newry investor. The complex had 100 inquiries after Savills slashed the price to €2.5m. Savills were appointed to sell it just five weeks ago, and conducted dozens of viewings, to parties from places as diverse as the Philippines and Texas.

It had been on the market since February 2009, with the price steadily reduced by previous agents, from a 2009 high of €20m, as the hotel (originally a Ramada), leisure centre and golf course traded through a long receivership process with PWC.