On Property Matters this week, Carol Tallon sits down with Paddy Kelly, Chairman of Redquartz in his home office to discuss his journey in the Irish property industry as he ventures into his 60th year in the business!
Unfortunately, even with an hour long interview, we didn’t get to cover everything we wanted! Below are simply a handful of the points that we missed out on.
Collective Power of the Diaspora
The silver lining to our history of mass emigration is now our Collective Power as a Diaspora. Approximately 70ml people globally claim to be genetically Irish.
Let us remind ourselves we are often seen as the 51 st state of America. Ireland is a gateway for North America into Europe. The pulse of Silicon Valley can be felt in Dublin. In addition to the major companies we are now in a phase where the Irish guys who have successfully achieved start-up in Silicon Valley are re-locating and co-locating to Dublin.
Our “brain-drain” is being reversed and people are returning home – recognising that they are returning to a more stable and open society.
It is interesting to note how our national demographic has changed over the past number of years. 17% of our population i.e. 850k people are non-nationals. And approx. 850k born in Ireland currently live overseas.
The collective power of the Diaspora can be harnessed in times of crisis.
“It’s my opinion that when times of crisis come we should have access to the strength of our Global Diaspora – in particular in banking and national policy – perhaps we should have a ‘Council of Diaspora Elders’”
Funding & Dealing with the Hedge Funds
The standard American funding model is based upon equity investment of 80% and banking of 20% – resulting in more dynamism in the economy. The reverse is broadly the case in Europe.
Dealing with the hedge funds who are now part of our financial reality has been challenging, and sometimes bruising for a lot of people. In our own company we managed to do it successfully by being immensely patient, and with a strategic policy for engagement.
I recognise this is not possible for everyone, and I think in many cases it takes the collective power to do this effectively.
“Our own company is becoming quite active in the funding space and our aim is to educate and advise in this sector. We are part of creating funds with regulated structures whereby Irish people can safely own their assets and invest in Irish business”
Tourism
“Enjoying the Homeplace is important – and this year more than any other it has become a reality”
I was a key investor in hotels and destination resorts; amongst them a ski village in Italy, golf resorts in Florida and Ireland. Over a decade ago we had 7 thousand bedrooms under management !
My focus is now on eco-tourism, I see a tremendous demand for immersion in nature. As a person with a deep interest in health; physical, mental and spiritual health, I appreciate that being immersed in nature is both curative and restorative.
As a country we are doing an excellent job opening up our waterways, developing greenways and mountain trails.
The challenge for tourism professionals is to get people to stay a little longer, to broaden the visitor experience, to create overspill into the local economy.
I see this first-hand in my recent involvement in the restoration of two castle on Lough Key, adjacent to Lough Key Forest Park, on the outskirts of Boyle
“I see ecotourism as a unique opportunity to both connect with our diaspora and to bring economic prosperity to communities while preserving the natural and cultural riches of our unique destinations and neglected rural towns”
Tune into Property Matters weekly on Dublin South FM from 6-7pm every Tuesday (or catch up via podcast www.iPropertyRadio.com) for more planning, construction, property and proptech chat.
- Produced by Katie Tallon, Hear Me Roar Media