Boarded-up Limerick houses seized by CAB sell for €121k over asking price

TWO houses in Limerick city seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) have sold at auction for a total of €121,000 over the advised minimum values.

The boarded-up properties in Garryowen were sold via online auctions held by BRG Gibson Auctions, both commencing at noon this Thursday.

A three-bedroom mid-terrace property at 7 Sarsfield Court, Garryowen, had an advised minimum value of €100,000. It sold for €173,000.

There were a flurry of late offers involving five bidders. The price went from €112,000 at 1.09pm to €173,000 at 1.18pm. There were five contenders with bidder 5 winning the day.

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Also going under the hammer was 12 The Path, Garryowen, a three-bedroom end-terrace house with an advised minimum value of €120,000.

There were three bidders vying for this property with bidder 1 and bidder 2 going head to head. Again, they waited until the end of the auction as the price rose from €122,000 at 1pm to €168,000 at 1.05pm. The new owner is bidder 1. 

The total sum accrued from the two houses of €341,000 will be returned to the State once all the formalities have been completed.

The properties were seized by CAB last October after the High Court ruled they were the proceeds of crime.

The seizures form part of CAB’s case against Kieran Keane Junior, the son of Kieran Keane, who was killed in a brutal gangland murder in January 2003.

Mr Keane was shot dead after members of the McCarthy Dundon crime gang abducted him and his nephew Owen Treacy. Mr Treacy survived after being stabbed multiple times and left for dead. Five men were later jailed for life for the murder.

Both homes are located just off the Garryowen Road in a long-established residential area, around a 10-minute walk from Limerick city centre, with nearby amenities including St John’s Hospital, schools, shops and local parks.