THE RESIDENCE club on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin has been taken over by the businesswoman Olivia Gaynor Long.

Members and suppliers have been told they were, as of Wednesday of this week, to deal with a recently-formed company called Molana Ltd, which is wholly owned by Ms Gaynor Long.

Ms Gaynor Long, who has an address in Monaco, bought the business from receiver Jim Stafford. He was appointed to Missford Ltd by the High Court earlier this year on the application of Zurich Bank, which was owed €2.3 million secured against charges on the club’s premises, as well as personal guarantees from Simon and Christian Stokes, who established the club in 2008.

It is understood the Stokes brothers will be involved in the operation of the club.

Public relations consultant Eugene Long, who is a director of Molana, issued a statement yesterday on Ms Gaynor Long’s behalf after being contacted by The Irish Times.

“I am delighted to have finalised the takeover of Residence, which is Dublin and Ireland’s premier members’ club,” she said. “My focus now is to build, with my team, on what is already in place and create a members’ club of international standards here in the heart of our capital city.

“We will be making a significant investment in the premises and facilities later this year and are at an advanced stage of planning in that regard.

“In the meantime, we are looking forward to enhancing the level of service to our members over the coming weeks and months and wish to thank them for their continued custom.”

Mr Long said Derek Phillips will be chief operations manager for Residence. Mr Phillips is the third director of Molana, along with Ms Gaynor Long. He is a director of Kilbogget Holdings Ltd and other companies.

In January, Mr Justice Peter Kelly was sharply critical of the Stokes brothers’ use of tax money for trading purposes. He referred the papers in the case to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.