Senior official at UL resigns after university overpaid €5.2m for student housing

Irish Times

27-05-2025

A top
University of Limerick
official has resigned his post, a year after the institution was rocked by a botched property deal in which it overpaid €5.2 million for student housing.
Andrew Flaherty was chief commercial officer of UL since October 2020. He had responsibility for commercial activities, buildings and estates when UL went ahead with a €11.9 million deal in 2022 in which it paid significantly above market price for 20 student homes.
The arrangement led to the resignation last June of then UL president Prof Kerstin Mey and heavy criticism by the
Comptroller & Auditor General
, the public spending watchdog.
Mr Flaherty had been on administrative leave since June.
READ MORE
[
University of Limerick proposes moving school of medicine to Dunnes Stores site
Opens in new window
]
In a statement emailed on Tuesday evening to UL staff and students, university chancellor Prof Brigid Laffan said he had left the institution with immediate effect.
'The chief commercial officer has tendered his resignation from employment with University of Limerick with effect from 27 May 2025,' she wrote.
'The university has accepted that resignation. The chief commercial officer has also resigned from all directorships and offices associated with or connected to the university.'
A biography of Mr Flaherty on UL's website said he previously worked in companies such as Generali, Utmost Pan Europe, GE, Aer Lingus, Chill, Genworth and ESAT Digifone.
In July last year, UL's then chief officer Prof Shane Kilcommins started
High Court defamation proceedings
in a personal capacity against Mr Flaherty and his wife Audrey Flaherty. Prof Kilcommins is now acting president of UL.
At the time the court proceedings were initiated, both Prof Kilcommins and Mr Flaherty sat on the 14-member UL executive committee, which advises the university president. According to legal records, the case remains before the courts.
In a report last September, the C&AG found fault with the student housing deal and another UL property transaction in Limerick city that resulted in combined financial losses of more than €8 million.
The C&AG report said UL's €5.2 million overpayment when buying the student homes resulted in a 'significant loss in value for money'. There were 'significant' due diligence failures, even though UL had adopted new procedures because of problems with a separate Limerick city deal in 2019.
The report also concluded it was 'difficult to see' how the 2019 deal that led to a €3 million loss 'represented value for money'.
The student housing deal at Rhebogue, 3km from the UL campus, was previously the subject of a special report for UL's governing authority that found the settled €10.9 million price rose by more than €1 million when the final contract was signed only nine days later.
UL has also been under scrutiny over the purchase of a city centre property which it later admitted 'significantly overpaying' for.
The university bought the former Dunnes Stores property at Honan's Quay for more than €8 million in 2019. It later wrote down the value of the site by €3 million in its financial accounts.
In a
message to staff on Tuesday
, Prof Kilcommins said a 'concept proposal' for the possible redevelopment of the Honan's Quay site was discussed. This involves relocating UL's existing school of medicine to a 'fully redeveloped, high-quality facility' at the city-centre site.