The contract to operate the national aquatic centre at Abbotstown, Dublin, was awarded to a dormant London-registered shelf company with assets of £4 sterling (€6.54). The company, Waterworld UK, took only a 5.1 per cent shareholding in the Irish entity which will run the centre, Dublin Waterworld.
The winner of the 30-year contract could gain annual profits of about €1.9 million according to informed estimates which suggest the contract could be worth about €57 million. It is understood the Government was advised in June 2000 that the contract should be awarded to a management team or organisation with "significant experience and a proven track record" of running centres of a similar scale internationally.
But Waterworld UK filed dormant accounts for the period to May 31st, 2000. That month work on the eight-acre site began on foot of a letter of intent from Sports Campus Ireland, the Government agency established to develop a stadium at Abbotstown. The formal bidding process began in July 2000 and Waterworld UK was selected in December 2001. Its partners were the building firm Rohcon and S&P Architects.
Following a query from The Irish Times last night the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, said she had sought clarification from the Minister for Tourism, Sports and Recreation, Dr McDaid about the award of the contract. She said: "I would be very concerned at any suggestion that a £4 dormant shelf company with no apparent track record or trading record could have won a competitive tender."
Dr McDaid's spokeswoman - responding to the same query - said his Department was "not aware" that Waterworld UK was a dormant company.
The Government approved the contract in January 2002, she said.
The broader Abbotstown initiative, dubbed the "Bertie Bowl", is on hold after a High Point Rendel report estimated its cost at £704 million (€894 million), about twice the £350 million projected by Campus Stadium Ireland.
Waterworld UK is registered at 8 Grays Inn Square in London, the address of solicitors, Cooke Matheson. Its registered number is 3367220. According to dormant accounts filed in the Companies Registration Office in London, it had assets of £4 in 2000 and 1999. Shares were held by a firm registered in the British Virgin Islands, Ealing Trading Corp.
Filings in the Companies Registration Office in Dublin say that Waterworld UK subsequently took a £5 shareholding in Dublin Waterworld, whose total shareholding was worth £98. Mr John Moriarty is Dublin Waterworld's majority shareholder. Director of a Kerry-based firm, Moriarty Civil Engineering, he holds £59 worth of shares in Dublin Waterworld. Shares worth £19 are held by Mr Kieran Ruttledge, who is chief executive of Tralee Aquadome. Mr Liam Bohan, a former international swimmer, holds shares worth £15.
When Mr Moriarty was asked whether it was unusual that the expected beneficiary of the contract, Waterworld UK, took only a 5.1 per cent shareholding in the operating company, he said: "It was stated in the bid that the directors of the operating company would include Kieran Ruttledge and Liam Bohan. These were the only two people named in relation to the operating company."
Stating that the arrangements were confidential, he would not explain why Waterworld UK had apparently divested its rights to the benefits of the contract. A director of Waterworld UK, Mr Roger Currie, also declined to answer this question. Describing himself as an "international consultant" to the waterpark industry, he said "any question regarding operating detail" should be asked of Dublin Waterworld.
Mr Moriarty said: "Waterworld UK was active through the work of its directors and this company was to be used as a vehicle for promoting the bid for the National Aquatic Centre. It was clearly stated in our bid that a new company would be set up to operate the centre. When the bid was under consideration we incorporated Dublin Waterworld Ltd."
Campus Stadium Ireland said: "The consortium bid made it clear that it was always intended to establish an Irish-based operations company. That company has now been established and is called Dublin Waterworld." Rohcon declined to comment. S&P Architects said the arrangements between Waterworld UK and Dublin Waterworld "are a matter for themselves".
