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Home Page > News > Irish farmer buys back land he sold for $2 million for $75,000

Irish farmer buys back land he sold for $2 million for $75,000

The 8.5 acre site near Kells, County Meath, was set to be redeveloped as a housing estate

JAMES O'SHEA,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Friday, September 21, 2012, 7:29 AM

Updated Friday, September 21, 2012, 1:07 PM

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David Gilsenan from Crossakiel near Kells

Photo by Irish Independent

An Irish farmer has bought back land he sold at the height of the Celtic Tiger for close to $2 million for just $75,000.

The 8.5 acre site near Kells, County Meath, an hour from Dublin was set to be redeveloped for new homes.

But the financial bust happened and the land lay unused, the Irish Independent reported.

The original developers auctioned the land off again this week -- and there were only two bids.

The land that was supposed to be the site of 45 homes selling for about $300,000 each was instead back in the original owner's hands.

David Gilsenan refused to discuss his good fortune but won't have to even remove a fence from his current property as the site was never even fenced off.

A member of his family said "this is private family business."

Increasingly banks are unloading rural property development sites to get them off their books.

Nster.com

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curtisjohnson | Sep 22, 2012, 11:26 PM EDT

Towntroll's idea of civilization in Ireland is a landscape of atrocious industrial estates, strip malls, and other sickening sprawl. "just another greedy money-grubbing immoral parasitic Irish farmer." No, he exploited the greed of the money grubbing internationally financed developers to the benefit of the area. Your people generated/generate wealth through massive worldwide resource and land theft (not to mention labor theft in the form of slavery), mercantile oligopolies, and ponzi banking bubbles. Britain has aptly been called the Carthage of the modern world.

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Seanmor | Sep 22, 2012, 12:24 PM EDT

Thank God the free enterprise system is still alive and well in Ireland and that the former owner of this land has bought it back and prevented it from being used as a housing development

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Frosty38 | Sep 22, 2012, 10:38 AM EDT

I loved the town of Kells. It was on a stop from a CIe Tour a fews years back. It had a store that we had in Cambridge Ma, So I know that our First National Store was from two irish Lads that did the first one so I guess it is the same with this, It also had a beautiful Catholic Church which was very like my church in East Cambridge MA When i go to Ireland i feel like I am home Don't make it sound so bad

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Towngate | Sep 22, 2012, 06:53 AM EDT

Yeah, just another greedy money-grubbing immoral parasitic Irish farmer.

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molliepmac | Sep 22, 2012, 04:51 AM EDT

jacersagain; Noel Dempsey lives in Trim - strangely given Trim is such a fast growing town, there is no interchange access for Trim on the M3 so I dont think your theory holds water. However there is evidence on record of the archaeological damage. 40 sites destroyed including National monuments and ancient burial grounds. As for Wood Quay - well it could have been developed like Jorvic/York Viking centre. Tourism in Ireland – they have no idea.

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curtisjohnson | Sep 21, 2012, 07:44 PM EDT

Brilliant! Thankfully, it will not be some horrid sprawl development or industrial park.

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Liamkeyes | Sep 21, 2012, 05:55 PM EDT

I think that is a brilliant business move.Harvard Business School should invite him to be a visitng lecturer for a term.

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jacersagain | Sep 21, 2012, 05:52 PM EDT

Ah shure this proves that it breaks your heart to leave the oul’ sod! Realising his mistake, he bought it back and good for him that the market brought him a profit. >>> @ molliepack… that M3 road was built at the instigation of former Fianna Fáil Minister for the Environment, Noel Dempsey, who wanted a road that would get him from his home in Trim to Dáil Éireann in double quick time. I don’t accept that building it did any damage to the archaeology of the region, anymore than the building of Dublin City Council Offices did to the ancient Dublin Viking site upon which it is built.

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seamus60 | Sep 21, 2012, 05:43 PM EDT

Scrivner. Your lika person who would like the greek economists solution to the whole lot. LOL

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JohnnyMac | Sep 21, 2012, 03:22 PM EDT

Brilliant move by that family! Congratulations to them.

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Scrivner | Sep 21, 2012, 01:20 PM EDT

Hope that he did not stuff that 2 million in Icelandic banks back then. Mollie, here's an idea to increase traffic on that M3 tollway: 1. Advertise that no Gardai will be timing or watching, 2. Put a pub at the brginning and end points, 3. raise the tolls. This will bring the dare devils with their Astons, Ferraris and BMW's to wind them out (without having to go to Nuremburgring). The local economy will benefit from fuel sales (petrol & Jameson), the tolls and the auto repair shops from the inevitable crashes. A definite win-win, except for the injured.

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molliepmac | Sep 21, 2012, 11:42 AM EDT

Crossakiel, Kells is at the north end of the notorious M3 tolled motorway which was constructed across 40 archaelogical sites in the Tara landscape past The Hill of Tara. These housing developments were to feed the M3 - instead the motorway is underused and the taxpayers have to make up toll shortfalls - the contract had a Traffic Guarantee. In a recent Planning case for a shop near Kells the Inspector deemed that the traffic still on the old N3 is still at the same level as pre the M3 motorway. Raymond Potterton was on the board of the National Road Authority when the M3 was being constructed.

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Searlit | Sep 21, 2012, 11:16 AM EDT

Makes me think of the old saying 'Early to bed, early to rise - makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.'

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Ms.Gail | Sep 21, 2012, 11:04 AM EDT

LOL

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