The Shelbourne Hotel

Dublin’s swish Shelbourne Hotel is a financial black hole. Its owners, who include property developer Bernard McNamara and oil distributor John Sweeney, have ploughed €230m into it with little prospect of any return.

An independent accountants’ report seen by The Sunday Business Post show a consortium of high-flying investors have earned nothing from their investment so far and “there is no expectation at present that there will be any return of investment in this property, nor indeed a repayment of capital in the short term”.

The report compiled by Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon will play a key role in Sweeney’s petition for examinership, which is due to be heard in the High Court tomorrow (Monday, February 8).

The consortium of investors paid €120m for the hotel in 2004 and then pumped a further €120m into a total renovation of the Stephens’ Green landmark.