:
Ireland: Northern Ireland hospitality group Beannchor has purchased the Dublin headquarters of the Riverdance show.
Beannchor, which was founded by the entrepreneur Bill Wolsey, is understood to have bought the property at 133-134 Capel Street from Riverdance entrepreneurs Moya Doherty and John McColgan for about €5 million. It has also purchased buildings on nearby Little Mary Street and hopes to open a 100-room Bullitt boutique hotel in 2019.
The hotel will be modelled on Bullitt Belfast, which takes its name from the 1968 Steve McQueen film, and opened last October. The Belfast hotel, which cost £4 million (€4.6 million) to develop, has 43 rooms, three bars and a restaurant.
It is believed Beannchor is planning to add a further 42 rooms and a rooftop terrace bar to Bullitt Belfast. The company also owns the Merchant hotel in Belfast, owning pubs such as the Dirty Onion, the National and the Cloth Ear, as well as the Little Wing pizza franchise. Beannchor is run by Conall Wolsey, son of Bill, and made operating profits of £3.2 million last year. The group is planning to bring the Little Wing franchise to England.
The Dublin property will be Beannchor’s first venture into the market in the Republic of Ireland.
