Owners of multi-storey car park revealed

The identity of the Virginia Consortium who own the multi-storey car park in Cavan Town seems to have been resolved with their names being revealed this week. The nine investors have addresses in such diverse places as Dublin, Sligo, Wicklow and Limerick. As this revelation came to light a leading member of Cavan Chamber of Commerce, Pacelli Lynch has called for this so called 'white elephant' to be thrown open, either free or at a reduced rate of €5 per week. People working in the town can utilise the multi storey car park and thus create a greater usage of it, he suggests. According to Mr. Lynch the full picture in relation to the car park was emerging and it now appeared that the proposal to build the car park came in from developers. "It is not a case of the council going out looking for a solution to a parking problem", he says. "For consultants to suggest back then that this multi-storey car park was required was a 'nonsense'. Any common sense analysis would have suggested that this car park was not required in the first instance", he stated. The immediate past Chamber President referred to the car parking provision planned for the new Tesco store on the hill as another example of parking over provision although he is adamant that the store should be developed on the existing site in the heart of the town. "We would love to see a great big Tesco developed in the core of the town - on the existing site", he said. Pacelli Lynch contends that if the 400 spaces in the car park were full to capacity every day of the week for the full 52 weeks of the year at €10 per car, it would bring in €208,000. The wages and the electricity amounted to €70,000 odd providing an estimated net income of €138,000 per year. Against that there was the rent of €400,000 a year being expended by the local authority, he says. "Having already paid the Virginia Consortium €3.6 million in rent over the past nine years the council has now agreed to purchase it in 2015 for €6.5 million. The nine members of the consortium have also received the benefit of lucrative tax incentives", claims Mr. Lynch. He suggests that under a 1998 scheme to encourage the development of multi-storey car parks - one of the fiscal measures that inflated the property bubble - they would have been entitled to write off 50 per cent of the capital cost of its construction against their tax liabilities. The members of the Virginia Consortium as revealed in the Irish Times this week are understood to be - John Brennan, Ashlawn, Ballinteer, Dublin; David Simpson, Fortfield Park, Terenure, Dublin; Brendan Horan, Castledillon, Straffan, Co Kildare; Alan Dillon, Deerpark, Castleknock, Dublin; Gerard Dillon, Avoca Park, Blackrock, Co Dublin; Anthony Gallagher, Herbert Park, Ballsbridge, Dublin; Richard McHale, Castilla Park, Clontarf, Dublin; Eileen Monaghan, Ballincar, Co Sligo; John Lynch, Bellevue Park, Blackrock, Co Dublin; Owen Owens, The Burnaby, Greystones, Co Wicklow and Gerard Ryan, Pallas Green, Co Limerick. Cavan Town Council lease the building from a company called Glassell Ltd, whose business address is listed as c/o Cavan County Council, Courthouse, Cavan. Glassell is a limited company in which Cavan Town Council is the only shareholder. The car park is leased from the Virginia Consortium. It was revealed at the last Town Council meeting that there are plans in place to revamp the multi-storey car park. The building was branded a 'white elephant' by Cllrs Patricia Walsh and Brian McKeown. The revamp plans include improving the lighting, increasing the width of spaces, enhancing access and improving both external and internal signage.