The home of former lord mayor of Dublin Nial Ring, in Clontarf, Dublin, which was placed on the market earlier this year by a receiver, sold for €3.45 million, according to the receiver.
The detached double-fronted Victorian house with three reception rooms, four bathrooms and a conservatory, was put up for sale in April with a guide price of €2.75 million.
However, a report from the receiver, Micheál Leydon, shows the house was sold in October for €3.45 million. It also shows the receiver incurred legal costs of €340,834.
Mr Leydon was appointed to Calvet Properties Ltd, the company that owned the house. Calvet is owned by Mr Ring. It will receive €1 million from the sale, according to the receiver’s report. The house has been sold to an unconnected third party.
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Mr Leydon was appointed to Calvet by a Northern Ireland finance company in November 2022, but only took possession of the house in March after two sets of related High Court proceedings were settled.
The house was bought by Mr Ring and his wife, Joyce, in 2006. In 2017, the Circuit Court issued a possession order against the couple in favour of the Bank of Ireland, but it was appealed.
The order was rescinded in February 2019 after the court was told the bank had been paid almost €1 million to cover the debt and related legal costs. The court was told the source of the money could not be disclosed for data protection reasons.
In December 2019, Calvet bought the house from the Rings, with the Property Price Register showing it paid €2.5 million. Calvet does not own any other property and Mr Ring is its sole shareholder.
A month after Calvet bought the house, a charge was registered by Business Capital and Finance (PC) Ltd, a Belfast company that is part of the Belfast Commercial Funding group, a Northern Ireland lender to small businesses controlled by businessman Gareth Graham.
In December 2022, a month after his appointment by the Belfast group, the receiver initiated High Court proceedings against the Rings. In October of last year, Ms Ring initiated proceedings against her husband and Calvet. Both sets of proceedings were then settled, after which Mr Leydon took possession of the house and placed it on the market.
A report just filed by Mr Leydon shows that of the €3.45 million secured for the house, €1.86 million went to the charge holder.
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The proceeds were also used to pay legal fees of €340,834, receiver’s fees and outlays of €42,528, sales fees of €74,261, and security costs of €3,968, as well as other costs. Total outlays were €2.37 million, leaving €1 million for Calvet.
Mr Ring (67) is an Independent Dublin city councillor for the north inner city, a former member of Fianna Fáil, and a former associate of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
A member of the board of the Industrial Development Authority from 1998 to 2009, he is a former banker who was later involved in a range of businesses, including the directorship of several exploration companies.
Earlier this week, Mr Ring was reported as saying he has not decided if he will contest the upcoming byelection in Dublin Central caused by the resignation of Fine Gael TD Paschal Donohoe. He was also quoted as saying a lot of people were suggesting the gangland figure Gerry Hutch, a constituency candidate in last year’s general election, should put himself forward again.
A request for a comment from Mr Ring about the sale of his former home met with no response.
