Tax debts of €5m forced Haughey to sell up
The disgraced former Taoiseach's Kinsealy estate will be converted into a world-class golf course including a development of 50 to 100 houses, each valued at €2m.
Mr Haughey received €10m as a down-payment on the property to allow him settle a €5m bill with the Revenue Commissioners. Despite agreeing in March this year to settle his bill, sources at the Revenue Commissioners said yesterday that the €5m was still outstanding.
The €5m that Mr Haughey still owes comprises:
* A gift tax of €2.47 million.
* Penalties of €2.53 million.
Sources at Manor Park Homes, the company which paid up to €40m for the estate, said they would develop 200 acres of the 230-acre property in accordance with the present planning guidelines, which would allow a championship golf course and integrated development.
Abbeville, the Gandon-built mansion which the former Taoiseach has occupied since the 1960s, will be converted into an exclusive hotel or club house.
The listing prevents any alteration to the internal or external features of the building, but with a footprint of almost 12,000 square feet, Abbeville has more than enough space to function as a discreet hotel with the surrounding stable areas being redeveloped as changing rooms.
Manor Park Homes will keep up to 30 acres in reserve for future high-density residential development.
The timing of the deal comes less than a month before final submissions are accepted for Fingal's new county development plan, due to be completed in May or June of 2005. However, Manor Park Homes will not seek planning permission for this residential property in the 2005 Fingal Development Plan. Instead, an application for planning will be made ahead of the 2009 plan.
The golf club project may take up to two years to get off the ground and Mr Haughey, 78, will have use of the property until closure of the sale expected to take at least six months.
The delay will serve both parties. The Taoiseach, who is suffering terminal prostate cancer, will continue to live in the property and his security presence will save the developers the hefty cost of protecting one of the country's finest houses.
Manor Park Homes chief executive Michael O'Driscoll would make no comment yesterday on any payments made to Mr Haughey. Mr O'Driscoll also refused to comment on future stage payments to the former Taoiseach.
The planned luxury homes will be similar to the Abingdon development in Malahide, where celebrities Ronan and Yvonne Keating purchased a €2.4m property last year.
