ONE OF the companies through which developer Seán Dunne controls the Jurys and Berkeley Court hotel sites in Ballsbridge, Dublin, has been listed to be struck off the companies register over its failure to file annual accounts on time
Mr Dunne, who acquired the sites in 2005 at a cost €379 million with debt from Ulster Bank, is but one of a number of high-profile business people to have companies listed this week to be struck off. These include Riverdance founder Moya Doherty and her husband John McColgan, anti-Lisbon Treaty campaigner Ulick McEvaddy and his brother Des, and restaurateur Jay Bourke, founder of the Café Bar Deli chain.
A strike-off notice is a formal warning that a company will be struck off the register if updated annual returns are not filed within two months. If no filing is made within four weeks, the company's name appears in Iris Oifigiúl.
Although a company struck off cannot legally trade, a strike-off notice is cancelled if a return is filed within two months. In the meantime, the company is liable for late-filing penalties.
Companies Registration Office (CRO) records show that a strike-off notice in respect of Mr Dunne's company, BCPHC, took effect on Sunday. BCPHC, an unlimited company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mr Dunne's vehicle, Padholme, one of the firms that guarantees his loans with Ulster Bank.
It is understood that annual returns for BCPHC were lodged with the Companies Registration Office yesterday. This occurred after The Irish Times queried why it had been strike-off listed.
"The annual return for BCPHC made up to the 22nd of March 2008 has been filed with the CRO and the company will now be removed from the strike-off list," said a spokesman for Mountbrook, Mr Dunne's main holding company.
Mr Dunne is appealing to An Bord Pleanála the decision of Dublin City Council to refuse permission for a 37-storey apartment tower and another building in the hotel complex. The council approved several other buildings in the Ballsbridge project, which Mr Dunne has characterised as akin to a Knightsbridge of Dublin.
Separate CRO records show a strike-off notice in respect of a firm controlled by Ms Doherty and Mr McColgan, Full Schilling Investment Company, also took effect on Sunday. However, a spokesman for the couple said accounts for this company "were filed two weeks ago".
Full Schilling's immediate parent is Abhann Productions. Accounts for Abhann for the year to June 2006 show that it waived a €4.44 million loan to Full Schilling in that period.
Both Ulick and Des McEvaddy declined to comment when asked yesterday about a strike-off notice issued in respect of their company, Omega Aviation Services, which sells aircraft spares. It is the immediate parent of the business for which the McEvaddys are best known, Omega Air, which provides airborne refuelling services for military aircraft.
Also listed to be struck off is Mr Bourke's company Bellinter House Ltd. He did not return a call yesterday to his office.
