After spending almost €23 million modernising his Castlehyde mansion in Fermoy, Co Cork, Michael Flatley appears to be anxious to cut his losses and end his involvement in the luxury hotel development close to his home.
Mr Flatley's legal team yesterday said the dancing star was owed €2.2 million by the company which operated the hotel, CH Management Ltd.
Mr Flatley provided CH Management with four loans between 2002 and 2005, the court heard - €63,486 in 2002; €902,879 in 2003; €1,129,864 in 2004 and €123,771 in 2005. The dancer said yesterday he was the beneficial owner of this company.
While always anxious to make projects he is involved with successful, the luxury Castlehyde Hotel seems to have been a frustrating project for Mr Flatley.
There was also the pain of redundancy for staff when the hotel closed in February.
The star of Lord of the Dance tried several different approaches to make the property a success, including an attempt to make it a leading wedding venue, but they appear to have failed.
A regular guest at the hotel himself, while renovations were taking place at his own home, the hotel's mix of fishing, squash and golf was clearly not enough to make the project a commercial success for the dancer.
With only 19 rooms (at €170 per double room) the level of revenue generated would have been relatively small. With 35 employees on the books, losses were always going to be substantial. In fact, in his affidavit, Mr Flatley yesterday told the court the hotel never made a profit during his association with it.
The hotel is part of the Castlehyde estate. As the name implies, the estate is the one time home of the Hyde family of whom Douglas Hyde, the first president of Ireland, is the most famous son.