Potential buyers eye up Cork gym which owed €625k on closure

A spokesperson for the receiver, Ken Tyrrell of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said he had received “a number of expressions of interest and was assessing all options”.

However, what a potential purchaser might do with the property remains unclear. The premises includes a 25m swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi, steam room, tennis courts, squash courts and gym, where the equipment remains in place.

A beauty salon also operated out of the premises, as well as exercise classes and a café. In addition, a creche service was available to members. Guests of the Clayton Hotel, Silversprings, also had use of the facilities, situated on terraced, landscaped grounds just 3km from the city centre.

The liquidator, Gerard Murphy, told a meeting of creditors in July that because the gym is now debt free, it’s more attractive to potential buyers.

There are no legacy scenarios with Source, it’s a clean bill of health,” he said.

The gym closed owing staff €355,866 and with €288,248 owed to creditors, largely members.

Staff were expected to be paid most of what they were owed through the Department of Social Protection.

At the liquidation meeting last month, Source director Julie Lacey explained that she became a director by default after both her brother in law Gavin Comiskey, who had bought the complex in 2002, and her sister, Gavin’s wife, died of cancer.

Ms Lacey said the complex struggled economically and they had tried, over the years to dispose of it as a going concern. It was on the point of being sold for €5m in 2006, but the deal fell through.

Ms Lacey said they subsequently worked with Nama to try and sell the complex.