Corkman Tom Coughlan’s Urban Green says court winding up petition is thwarted

A number of solicitors at JRAP O’Meara petitioned the court to wind up Mr Coughlan’s Urban Green Private, which provides a number of services to the real estate sector, including handling lettings.

The firm’s financial backers include Finance Ireland, the privately-owned financial services group.

No details are available regarding the extent of the alleged debt owed by Urban Green Private to the group of solicitors.

Darren O’Keeffe, a solicitor with JRAP O’Meara, who is named as one of the petitioners for the winding-up application, declined to comment yesterday.

“As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not in a position to make any comment at this time,” he said.

However, later yesterday a person who claimed to be a spokesperson for Urban Green Private but declined to be identified, said that the matter had been successfully resolved.

The Cork legal firm would not confirm that late yesterday afternoon, insisting that it remained an “ongoing legal matter” and was unable to comment.

A total of 13 solicitors at the Cork legal firm filed the petition.

Urban Green Private provides a number of services to the property sector and says on its website that it manages more than €150m worth of assets.

They include the Bridgewater Shopping Centre in Arklow, Co Wicklow.

While Mr Coughlan is not a director of the business, he owns it outright. The most recent accounts for the firm show that it made a profit of €346,000 in 2019.

Mr Coughlan stood as a candidate for the Progressive Candidates in the 1997 local election, but failed to win a seat.

He acquired Cork City football club in 2008 out of examinership after it had faced financial difficulties. However, just a year later, Mr Coughlan who was also the club’s chairman, was banned by the FAI for 12 months and fined for bringing the game into disrepute.

He was also restricted from acting as a director for five years in 2011, in a decision related to the football club.