Ringsend site buyers stopped paying interest on €293m loan

logo_dddaA consortium involving the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) stopped paying interest on a near-€300 million property loan more than six months ago, an Oireachtas committee has heard. The State body joined with developer Bernard McNamara and financier Derek Quinlan to form a company called Becbay which paid €412 million for the former Irish Glass Bottle plant in Ringsend. The €293 million loan was given for two years and its terms were being renegotiated, said the authority’s chief executive Paul Maloney. Mr Maloney told the committee the loan had been from Anglo Irish Bank. But, in a statement last night, the DDDA said the loan had been jointly given by Anglo and Allied Irish Banks. A spokeswoman for AIB was unable to say how much the bank had provided for the project. Mr Maloney and other senior DDDA executives yesterday appeared before the Oireachtas Environment, Heritage and Local Government committee. Mr Maloney said the majority of the loan was secured upon the Ringsend property itself, and just €100 million was guaranteed by the three partners. He did not explain why interest payments had stopped.