Joe O’Donovan was a Celtic Tiger property baron. Fergus Applebe is a property investor and solicitor. When their business Alvonway blew up in 2014, it had total debts of  €419 million. Alvonway’s was part of the O’Donovan group of companies owned by the family of Joe O’Donovan. The jewel in the crown of its assets was the Wilton Shopping Centre in Cork, which it acquired in 2005 for €137 million, having borrowed most of the money from Anglo Irish Bank. When Alvonway went bust in March 2014, it owed €419 million. Of that sum, €171.6 million was due to the former…

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