Property industry got plenty of talent

The great and the good of Ireland's property industry assembled last week for a rocking night in support of a brilliant fundraising initiative by Savills. Their series of Dublin, Cork and Belfast's Got Talent shows went down a storm generating over €50,000 for various cancer charities.

The 400 strong audience at the Dublin event in the Ballsbridge Hotel were treated to 10 acts primarily from businesses in the property industry. Notable showings on the night included Andrew Smyth of Savills' brilliant rendition of Mustang Sally with his band The Committed, while the ultimate winner was Lucia Mangan from Premier Property Maintenance for her version of Skinny Love by Bon Iver.

The real show stealers were the in-character judging panel provided by Paul McNeive (former managing director of Hamilton Osborne King) who made a very convincing and politically aware Bono, while Ronan O'Hara of Sherry FitzGerald displayed a lost vocation to showbiz in his Louis Walsh persona. Elvis impersonator, Kevin Doyle, Paul Houlihan – also known as Dermot Brown from Mrs Brown's Boys – and Tony Tormey, who plays Paul Brennan in Fair City also featured on the all-star panel.

In Cork 200 people were captivated by Sara Ryan of PJ Hegarty & Sons performance of Change by Deftones, while in Belfast 500 people gathered at the Europa Hotel where Rachel Annett and Laura Hutchison from Morton Pinpoint wowed the crowd with their piano version of a Les Mis classic.

The Childhood Cancer Foundation, the Oncology Ward at Cork University Hospital and CLIC Sargent Northern Ireland will benefit from the substantial proceeds raised.