30 March 2023
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
At 170 years it’s one of Ireland’s oldest Hotels and one of Cork’s longest established businesses – it’s so old that Irish Freedom Fighter Michael Collins gave speeches from its first floor meeting room and outside its front door – but O’Donovan’s Hotel faces a problem – AIB Bank sold its loan to a vulture fund – and that vulture fund won’t engage – according to the Hotel owners
O’Donovan’s Hotel of Pearse Street, Clonakilty, West Cork
O’Donovan’s Hotel is a 7th generation family-run hotel on the main street (Pearse Street) of Clonakilty Town, West Cork. It employs 70 staff.
The business took out a 30-year €1.2m loan with AIB in Clonakilty in 2007 to expand their business into an adjacent building on the main street. However, the goalposts moved: Firstly, AIB announced they were reducing the loan term from 30 to 20 years, drastically increasing the monthly repayments required from the business. Secondly, AIB sold the loan to Everyday Finance, a company publicly labelled as a “vulture fund” by politicians.
O’Donovan’s Hotel says it has tried to engage with Everyday Finance. Brother and sister Tom and Dena O’Donovan say they had been putting payments into an account nominated by the lender. They queried why the lender was no longer taking the payments, plus why AIB moved their business account from the local Clonakilty branch (on the same street as their Hotel) to the Fermoy branch (some 90km or 1h 15mins drive away).
O’Donovan’s Hotel says it has made many lump sum offers to Everyday Finance to clear the loan.
The matter was raised in the Dail earlier this month by Cork South West TD Christopher O’Sullivan from Fianna Fail, a coalition Government Party. He referred to Everyday Finance as being “an unscrupulous vulture fund”
Then, this week the matter was raised in the Dail by Cork South West TD Michael Collins, an Independent, who says Everyday Finance appointed a receiver, and the O’Donovan Family has been “treated like dirt” by the lenders.
Tanaiste and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin TD (Cork South Central) has agreed to meet with the O’Donovan Family.
Local media, such as the Southern Star have covered the developing story; their article stated that Everyday Finance’s parent company was unable to provide a comment. The Opinion Line phone-in show on Cork Radio station 96FM discussed the matter ‘Can We Save O’Donovan’s Hotel In Clon? Lots of sadness over what’s happening O’Donovan’s Hotel in Clonakilty. PJ talks to Eugene Brosnan about it’.
The current coalition Government, which comprises Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party, faces many problems including Housing. Part of the housing crisis stems from vulture funds upsetting individuals with personal mortgages. This current story now relates to vulture funds threatening the continued operation of businesses. Many SMEs will be watching to see how the Government handles this latest matter. The Government parties are already polling poorly with personal voters, but a solid voter base for FF and FG has always been business owners. The parties should be keen to broker a solution to this matter.
Irish statesman and freedom figher Michael Collins (1880-1922) – a namesake of the above TD – made one of his final speeches outside O’Donovan’s Hotel on 15 June 1922.
O’Donovan’s Hotel is a West Cork institution.
