From the Irish Times, a piece by Mary Carolan:
DEVELOPMENT LANDS in Athlone, Co Westmeath, valued in 2006 at €31 million have a current value of €600,000, Bank of Ireland told the Commercial Court yesterday in a dispute with a developer over unpaid loans.
The bank was rejecting arguments by Pearse Gately that the sale of these and other lands offered reasonable potential for the bank to recover €17.4 million from the developer under his guarantees of loans.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly said the €600,000 figure was “even more alarming” and put “into a cocked hat” the judge’s own view, from his experience in the Commercial Court in recent years, land values had fallen between 70-80 per cent.
John Hennessy, for B of I, said as well as obtaining the €600,000 valuation for the Athlone lands, the bank had also received a valuation of €4 million for development lands at Sallins, Co Kildare, previously with a peak value of some €17.5 million.
I wonder where the money is gone?
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