Companies owned by ‘Banty’ McEnaney and his wider family were paid €35.6m for homeless accommodation

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Companies owned by former Monaghan GAA manager Séamus ‘Banty’ McEnaney and the wider McEnaney family were paid €35.6 million by Dublin City Council last year for providing emergency accommodation to homeless people.

New figures published by the council show that a total of €225.9 million was paid to private firms providing emergency accommodation and homeless food provision in 2025.

Quarterly purchase orders for amounts paid in excess of €20,000 show that a network of 15 companies owned by McEnaney and members of his wider family received €10.66 million for the final quarter of 2025 out of a total of €60.59 million paid to private companies.

That was the highest total paid in any three-month period last year.

[ Dublin City Council spends €58m on homeless accommodation in three-month periodOpens in new window ]

Mr McEnaney’s Brimwood UC received €1 million for the final three months of the year, according to detail in the purchase orders for emergency accommodation.

Brimwood UC was paid €24 million through State contracts for accommodating Ukrainians and international protection applicants in 2024. The figures for those services for 2025 are not yet available.

Another firm controlled by the wider McEnaney family, Olenna UC, received €2.7 million for providing emergency accommodation services in the final three months of 2025 from the city council.

Two other businesses run by members of the wider McEnaney family received in excess of €1 million for those three months. Bluebros Hospitality Ltd received €1.34 million, while Andarna Ltd – incorporated only last June – received €1.1 million.

Bluebros Hospitality Ltd recorded profits after tax of €2 million in 2024.

The quarterly figures from Dublin City Council also show that three companies owned by Kevin Farrell of Leixlip, Co Kildare, and Thomas McNicholas of Swinford, Co Mayo, were paid €4.73 million for the final quarter of 2025 in addition to the €5.46 million for the previous three-month period.

The companies – Forbairt Órga Tearanta, K&T Forbairt Developments Ltd and K&T Forbairt Properties Ltd – all have their registered address at the Sheldon Park Hotel on Kylemore Road, Dublin 12.

Country Manor Hotels ULC, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, was paid €3.07 million during the period. Its directors are listed as Thomas Gerard Duignan (49) and Thomas Duignan (19), of Navan, Co Meath.

Loux Ltd, of Finnstown Castle Hotel, Lucan, Co Dublin was paid €2.94 million for the final quarter in addition to the €2.85 million received for the previous three months. The company’s accumulated profits had increased by €1.27 million to €2.17 million at the end of 2024.

In its 2026 budget, Dublin City Council has set aside €406 million for all homeless services this year.

The most recent Government figures show that 71 per cent of adults in homeless accommodation nationally were in the Dublin region, with more than 8,184 adults recorded as homeless in December.