Aran islands ferry company in receivership.
By Gavin Daly in THE POST.IE (The Sunday Business Post)
A Galway company that operated passenger ferries to the Aran Islands has gone into receivership after its owner amassed significant debts from property development. Bank of Ireland has appointed a receiver to Bád Arann Teoranta, which traded as Aran Islands Direct from Rossaveal in Connemara. It is owned by James Clancy, the head of Clanview Construction. Earlier this year, Clancy was sent to Mountjoy Prison for 14 days for contempt of court amid questions about his financial affairs.
The receiver to Bád Arann Teoranta, Liam Dowdall of accountancy firm Smith & Williamson Freaney, has seized two boats, Clann Eagle and Clann na hOileáin.
The 2 Aran direct boats at Rossaveal. (2 closest to the pier)
He will appoint agents to sell them in a bid to recover some of the bank’s debts. According to filings at the Companies Registration Office, Bank of Ireland loaned Bárd Arann Teoranta €2.4 million in May 2006, secured with a charge over Clann na hOileain .
The ferry company has not operated in recent times and Bád Arann Teoranta has not filed accounts for several years. Its most recent figures show accumulated losses of €1.5 million at the end of June 2006. The company valued its assets at €4.3 million, but owed almost €6 million to creditors.
Clancy’s Clanview Construction went into receivership last year after Anglo Irish Bank moved to secure repayment of several million euro it was owed. Clanview built the Riverside development in Portarlington, CoLaois, using prefabricated polystyrene products from another of his companies, but the project was affected by structural defects.
In court last year, Clancy said he had substantial loans with Anglo, ACC Asset Finance and Bank of Scotland (Ireland), but had ‘‘no income’’ since 2007 and was ‘‘living on fumes’’.
The court heard he had business interests in Abu Dhabi, as well as 11 portfolios of land in Galway and properties in Laois and Offaly. Clancy was jailed for contempt for failing adequately to explain his business dealings and ventures in the United Arab Emirates.
