Noel Grealish lost €480,000 in collapse of business

Galway West TD’s Galway Glass Centre collapsed in 2012 with debts just over €540,000

Noel Grealish: “I am personally owed €480,000, as I paid the redundancy out of my own pocket and I also gave loans to the company to keep it going through difficult times.” Photograph: Alan Betson / The Irish Times
Noel Grealish: “I am personally owed €480,000, as I paid the redundancy out of my own pocket and I also gave loans to the company to keep it going through difficult times.” Photograph: Alan Betson / The Irish Times

Independent TD Noel Grealish has confirmed he had personal losses of almost half a million euro from the collapse of his glass business.

The Galway West TD’s Galway Glass Centre Ltd collapsed in June 2012 with debts of just over €540,000.

Documents recently lodged to the Companies Office by the firm's liquidator, Mazars, confirm that the firm owed creditors €541,980 at the time of its winding up in June 2012.

A total of €319,838 was owed to unsecured creditors and an additional €222,142 was owed to secured creditors

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“I am personally owed €480,000, as I paid the redundancy out of my own pocket and I also gave loans to the company to keep it going through difficult times,” the former Progressive Democrats TD said. “I am still paying the secured debt.”

Mr Grealish established Galway Glass Centre in the early 1990s and, at its peak, it employed more than 10 people.

Mr Grealish’s brother Michael was also a director of the firm. “Most of the people who worked for the company were family members and personal friends, so the closure of the company was very difficult,” he said.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times