Ep 1- John Magnier's bitter land row and the €15m handshake deal
John Magnier, the bloodstock billionaire, and two of his children, are seeking to enforce a handshake deal agreed between Mr Magnier and Richard Thomson-Moore to buy Barne Estate.
Mr Magnier contends that the €15m deal agreed in his Coolmore home in Tipperary on August 22, 2023 with Mr Thomson-Moore is binding.
He argues that a later €22.5m deal Mr Thomson-Moore and his family trust agreed with Maurice Regan, the US-based Kerry building tycoon, is 'unlawful'.
Today on The Indo Daily, in the first of a two-part special, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Mark Tighe, journalist with the Sunday Independent, to discuss one of the most dramatic and colourful cases to hit the Irish courts in recent memory.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
2 hours ago
- The Journal
Government intends to pass trade ban with Israeli settlements amid pressure from some US politicians
THE GOVERNMENT INTENDS to continue to advance with its legislation to ban the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements. This comes after 16 members of the US congress asked that Ireland be added to a list of countries boycotting Israel if the bill is passed. This group have signed a letter calling for the Bill, which seeks to ban the trade of goods between Ireland and Israeli settlements, to be investigated. Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, for New York, is leading the group of politicians. The letter references the US anti-boycott laws, which seek to oppose boycotts against America and its allies. Should the US find the Irish ban constitutes a 'foreign boycott', America may take action to counteract the ban and include Ireland on a purported 'boycott list', potentially suspending future US business deals in Dublin and elsewhere. The Irish government has been aware for a number of years that the anti-boycott movement in the US, made up of a number of American politicians, would take issue with the Occupied Territories Bill. Tánaiste Simon Harris said despite the opposition, Ireland 'intends' to continue to pass the draft laws. Advertisement It comes amid global criticism of Israel after its security cabinet approved a plan to take over Gaza City. Israel's air and ground war has already killed tens of thousands of people in the Gaza Strip, displaced most of the population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory towards famine. Ireland's coalition of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and a group of independents committed to passing a ban on goods from the occupied Palestinian territories in its programme for government completed in January. A cross-party committee recommended that the government pass the bill and the prohibition of imports from the Palestinian Occupied Territories should be extended to include trade in services. Harris said Ireland was not alone in wanting to ban trade with the occupied Palestinian territories. 'People in Ireland, people in Europe and people right across the world feel extraordinarily strongly about the genocidal activity that we're seeing in Gaza, about the starving children and we will use all tools at our disposal,' he told reporters today. 'It's not a surprise that some seek to distort or misrepresent our proposed actions. 'Remember, Ireland isn't alone in relation to this; this week we also saw Slovenia take action in relation to trade from the occupied territories, I expect Belgium are likely to do the same and we intend to advance with our legislation. 'Of course we'll continue to engage and explain and never allow our position to be misrepresented.'
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
How Morecambe FC faces possible EXTINCTION amid financial mess as fans despair with just 11 days left to find new owner
Fans blame the club's demise on Essex-based owner Jason Whittingham for not fulfilling his promise to sell the crisis-hit club BRING BACK THE SUNSHINE How Morecambe FC faces possible EXTINCTION amid financial mess as fans despair with just 11 days left to find new owner STARING at the giant Morecambe FC flag bearing the legend Bring Me Sunshine, tears fill club worker Colette Davies' eyes. 'There's no sunshine right now,' weeps the mum of three. 'It's more like dark, black clouds.' Advertisement 8 Morecambe have missed the final deadline and are on the brink of being kicked out the National League 8 Bring Me Sunshine — the signature tune of the town's most famous son, Eric Morecambe isn't likely to echo around the stadium any time soon Credit: Alamy 8 Colette, whose job is 'housekeeper' for the players, says she and other fans are experiencing 'absolute heartbreak' Belted out by fans on match day, Bring Me Sunshine — the signature tune of the town's most famous son, Eric Morecambe — is unlikely to echo around the Shrimps' stadium any time soon. Mired in a financial mess, the club has been suspended by the National League for its first three games this season. If the Lancs club is not sold by August 20, they may be kicked out of the league altogether. Possible extinction of this 105-year-old institution would be a devastating blow for a seaside resort that has seen its tourism industry decimated by cheap package holidays abroad. Advertisement Standing next to the club's well-manicured pitch, Colette, whose job is 'housekeeper' for the players, says she and other fans are experiencing 'absolute heartbreak'. For Colette and many who pack the Halo home stand on match days, the Shrimps are a family affair. Her dad Les Dewhirst has been the club's kit man for the last 30 years and her three children are all Morecambe mad. Les told me he is too upset to be interviewed, saying: 'It's hurting so much and my head won't settle.' Advertisement Ghostly sadness As seagulls wheel overhead, Colette adds: 'There's been lots of tears and anger. When I have to go home and tell my boys that I don't know what's going on at the club, there's absolute heartbreak. They're 14 and 15. This club is their life.' Like other staff at the club, Colette has not been paid since May. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she tells me that new school uniforms for her children are 'on hold'. Tyson Fury opens up on relationship with Joseph Parker and claims he's now his 'part-time manager and financial advisor' 'It's the school holidays, so there's been no fun activities really for my kids because we just can't afford it,' she adds. The giant Bring Me Sunshine flag — complete with a silhouette of a skipping Eric Morecambe, a shrimp and the red rose of Lancashire — stands limp in the sunshine at the back of the Halo stand. Advertisement Despite being born in the resort. the comic genius was famously a Luton Town fan and club director. As with a closed-down pub, a ghostly sadness haunts a shuttered football ground where laughter and emotion once reverberated. Planned weddings, wakes and school proms booked at the 6,241- capacity Mazuma Stadium this summer have all been cancelled. One corner of the stadium is occupied by local hero Tyson Fury's gym. Many in the town are hoping the former heavyweight boxing world champ will step in as a white knight to save the club. Advertisement As yet, there has been no word on a possible takeover from the big man. Colette shows me the empty changing rooms where everything is neat and tidy for when the players should be preparing to face Brackley Town next Saturday. Like today's away fixture at Boston United, it has been postponed. Playing in England's third tier as recently as 2021, only a world war has stopped the Shrimps fulfilling their fixtures until now. Fans blame the demise on Essex-based owner Jason Whittingham for not fulfilling his promise to sell the crisis-hit club. Advertisement On Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said he was 'very concerned' about the plight of Morecambe FC and urged everyone involved with the club 'to do the right thing'. 8 .Season ticket holder Helen Coates, 56, buying a replica shirt for her grandson Coby, 5 8 Railway worker Russ Horrocks, 38, and son Noah, 11 8 Official kit supplier Terrace's director Carl Sewell says cash from the merchandise will not reach owner Whittingham's pockets Advertisement Supporters have this week been queuing at a pop-up shop on the promenade to buy this season's shirts, even though their team may never get to wear them. There was a forlorn sense of despondency along the usually jaunty seafront as hundreds waited for hours to make their purchase. Railway worker Russ Horrocks, 38, snapped up the away shirt for son Noah, 11, saying: 'Morecambe's a great atmosphere on match days. 'There's 4,000 on a good day, but the noise makes it sound like more. It's as much about meeting your mates as the result.' Advertisement Retired Alan McGinley, 62, whose brother John played for the club, revealed: 'The club is everything for this town now the tourism has been hit. My brother used to get a pork pie for playing and £1 if he scored.' A banner reading, 'Bring back the sunshine' was strapped to railings at the store run by official kit supplier Terrace. Its director, Carl Sewell, says cash from the merchandise will not reach owner Whittingham's pockets, adding: 'We sold around 1,500 shirts in just four hours.' Of the club's slip towards possible exclusion from the league, he said: 'It's horrendous. It will suck the blood out of the town and hit local businesses.' Season ticket holder Helen Coates, 56, buying a replica shirt for her grandson Coby, five, added: 'I don't know what I'm going to do with my Saturdays now. Advertisement 'I took my sons to watch Morecambe, I now take my grandsons. It was only £3 for little ones. It makes me want to weep.' With stunning views of the Lake District fells, Morecambe became a seaside destination for Yorkshire factory workers when a connecting rail line was built around 1850. The club is everything for this town now the tourism has been hit. My brother used to get a pork pie for playing and £1 if he scored. Alan McGinley The resort boomed in the 20th Century — with Scottish holidaymakers also being drawn to it — before no- frills flights to the Med dented its popularity. It had been home to the country's largest Pontins holiday camp, but the last Bluecoats left in 1994. Advertisement Morecambe's once iconic pair of piers are long gone, as is its famous Bubbles swimming pool and the Frontierland fairground. Hope is offered by an £80million scheme to construct a northern version of the Eden Project botanical garden on the seafront. Shrimps season ticket holder David Lambert, 63, points down the promenade and tells me: 'This town used to be packed out at this time of year. 'You couldn't walk along that prom for people. At least on Saturdays the football would give this place a buzz. Away fans would come and walk along the prom, go to the pubs and have fish and chips. That might all be gone now.' Advertisement 'Used to be packed out' Morecambe's once mighty fleet of shrimp fishing boats has also been in steep decline. Ray Edmondson still stocks his little fishmongers with shrimps caught from his boat, the Bernadette. The fisherman says there were 30 shrimp boats when he started out. Now there are just two. He blames 'too many rules and regulations'. Advertisement Ray, who has run his business for 47 years, adds: 'Away fans come in here to buy a few pots of shrimps and take them home with them.' Nearby, staff at Atkinson's Fish & Chips are worried they could lose a decent slice of trade if the football club goes under. The football helps many hospitality businesses through the lean winter months. Bernie Harkin, 52, who has grafted in the shop for 26 years, tells me: 'Fans love our chips with a bit of haddock. The football club is such an important part of the town. Advertisement 'We have our Christmas parties at the stadium.' 8 The club has been suspended by the National League for its first three games this season 8 One corner of the stadium is occupied by local hero Tyson Fury's gym Credit: Getty Barman Zac Rossall, 19, serving pints at the Eric Bartholomew — a Wetherspoon pub bearing Eric Morecambe's real name — says: 'It gets packed here on match day. Advertisement 'I'm not a football fan, but I'm a fan of what it brings to Morecambe. 'If the club closes, it will mean less footfall in the town.' So why is Morecambe in such a financial mess? In 2023, Jason Whittingham's Bond Group Investments announced it was selling the club to investment firm Panjab Warriors. The company loaned £6million to the Shrimps as the club descended into financial turmoil with unpaid bills, sackings and resignations. Advertisement Panjab Warriors are ready to take Morecambe off his hands, but Whittingham says he has an alternative buyer. 'Club is held hostage' Last month, Whittingham sacked the Shrimps' board of directors after they threatened to place the club into administration. Morecambe MP Lizzi Collinge has raised the issue in Parliament and said: 'Morecambe FC is being held hostage and it breaks my heart.' In June the Shrimps' players were only paid a third of their salaries. Many have now chosen to leave the club to pay their mortgages. Advertisement One player forced to quit, midfielder Tom White, 28, said: 'Morecambe Football Club is special. This institution needs to survive, and I'm praying.' A town that followed its football club to Wembley three times since 1974 now may lose its cornerstone. While a new Morecambe could rise from the ashes if the club is booted out of the league, it would then likely have to take its place at the bottom of the football pyramid. Bury FC, who were expelled from the Football League for financial difficulties in 2019, have invited Shrimps fans to watch their match free today 'in solidarity'. Advertisement Dozens are planning on making the journey. And they will be supporting another club that understands how football binds a community together.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Over €66m unclaimed from Deposit Return Scheme
Irish consumers last year turned their back on €66.7m when they failed to cash in their deposits for drink containers through the Government's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). That is according to the 2024 annual report for Re-Turn which shows that the failure by consumers to redeem the €66m worth in deposits for their drink containers was the chief reason behind the State-backed firm to record a pre-tax surplus of €51.3m for 2024. Established by Government, Re-Turn went live with its Deposit Return Scheme operations on 1 February 2024 with the aim to significantly increase the recycling rates of bottles and cans. Last year, 877.85m containers were returned made up of 433.2m plastic bottles and 444.6m cans. The annual report shows Re-turn recorded revenues of €114.4m in 2024. This included the €66.7m in unredeemed deposits and €47.7m made up of €17.2m from the sale of material and €30.5m from 'producer fees'. The annual report discloses that the income from unredeemed deposits has resulted in a VAT settlement by Re-turn of €23.7m. The company's 2024 costs totalled €62.2m made up of direct collection and recycling costs of €46.5m and administrative expenses of €15.7m which included a spend of €4.6m on 'marketing, communications, and public awareness'. The report states that the €66.7m reflects the recognition of unredeemed deposits for the financial year and "this is after a €36.5m estimate of deposits expected to be returned post year end". The report states that "unredeemed deposits are an expected and routine scenario for deposit return schemes and it was anticipated that in the initial transition period redemptions would be low and therefore there would be a high level of unredeemed deposits". The report states that "as a not-for-profit organisation, in the early stages of our maturity, the fees from unredeemed containers are being reinvested in a number of ways". These include paying off initial scheme set-up costs; infrastructure development; consumer education campaigns and contributing to its legally required contingency reserve. The report adds that income from unredeemed deposits "is expected to significantly reduce as the scheme reaches its targeted redemptions of 90% in the coming years". The report states that "in the long term, should unredeemed deposits be higher than forecast, we would support initiatives that drive increased adoption of the scheme as well as investing in broader innovative projects designed to further the country's circular economy strategy". The report states that Re-Turn closed the year with a cash balance of €89.8m. The report states that this cash figure will reduce significantly in 2025 when several significant draw-downs are scheduled and after accounting for these factors the adjusted cash balance would reduce to approximately €32m. The significant draw-downs include a VAT settlement on unredeemed deposits of €23.7m; a provision of €13.8m for Re-Turn's contingency reserve fund; a settlement of the remaining €11.7m balance of the facility agreement with Bank of Ireland grant settlement of c.€3.2m to retailers in respect of 2024 and a provision of €5.4m for corporation tax arising on surplus in the scheme. In comments attached to the report, Re-Turn CEO Ciaran Foley stated: "Thanks to the incredible buy-in and adoption from the Irish public, 877 million containers were returned through DRS in 2024, equating to an average 66% post transition period recycling rate. "The seasonality of the soft drinks market was reflected in some even higher months, such as in August when the return rate reached 75%. Every 1% increase equates to around 19 million containers, and we recorded some daily returns of over 5 million products over the Christmas period." Chair of Re-Turn Tony Keohane stated that the launch of Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in February 2024 marked a defining milestone in the country's journey toward a more sustainable future. He said: "From a standing start in Autumn 2022, the scheme collected more than 877 million drinks containers in its first 11 months. In that short time, we've seen Irish consumers recycle more bottles and cans than ever before and do so in a way that produces high quality recyclate, helping build a truly circular economy."
