Paddy McKillen jnr built a hospitality empire – now the man with €270 in the bank owes €27.7m

Paddy McKillen jnr took a bet on Dublin’s hospitality scene when few would. Now the man who launched some of Dublin’s best-known venues and brought the Stella Cinema back to life has been left with debts of €27.7 million and just a couple of hundred euro in his bank account.In 2009, when the publicity-averse restaurateur set up Press Up Group with then business partner Matt Ryan, Ireland’s hospitality scene was a different place.Restaurants, hotels and pubs were buckling under the tremors of the financial crash and billions of euro in outstanding loans. At one stage, 10 per cent of the country’s hotels were in receivership.READ MOREMany people relatively unscathed from the downturn, who had some money to invest, saw the hospitality sector and ran a mile, but McKillen jnr saw an opportunity and took it.In the following decade, the son of property investor Paddy McKillen rode the wave of Ireland’s recovery very successfully.He brought venues like the Stella Cinema back to life, launched the Wowburger chain, expanded Wagamama’s presence in Ireland, brought old pubs back to life and rapidly grew its Dean Hotel Group. By 2019, McKillen jnr and Ryan had grown the Press Up Group from a handful of venues, including Captain America’s on Grafton Street and Wagamama on nearby South King Street, into a group with more than 2,000 staff spread across 27 restaurants, 12 bars, five hotels and two cinemas.That wasn’t enough for McKillen jnr and Ryan – they sought out more. In late 2019, they were confidently plotting a further 15 hotels, restaurants, bars and a cinema. Reports had emerged a year earlier that they were considering a stock market flotation to help finance even more expansion.[ Paddy McKillen jnr, with debts of €27.7m, applies for personal insolvency arrangementOpens in new window ]Then the pandemic hit. It somewhat put the brakes on a group that only had one gear, aggressive expansion, but not completely.During the lockdowns, McKillen jnr and Ryan, through their development company Oakmount, continued to acquire properties through funding from non-bank lenders.The deals for further investment properties – including Ireland’s reputedly most haunted house, Loftus Hall, in 2022 – came as he and Ryan also negotiated to sell The Dean Hotel Group in a deal that valued its portfolio, including The Glasson Lakehouse in Co Westmeath, The Clarence Hotel in Dublin and The Leinster Hotel, at close to €355 million. That deal was completed in April 2024.By that time, Oakmount had started to acknowledge some projects were “caught up in post-Covid delays”, including an eight-storey office development on Cardiff Lane beside The Ferryman pub and an apartment block of 48 luxury homes being sold individually for between €760,000 and €995,000 in Mount Merrion.In April 2024, a spokeswoman for McKillen jnr said site closures during the pandemic were “still being felt and this combined with inflation has resulted in delays and additional costs”.At this point, people in the hospitality sector began to speculate McKillen jnr and Ryan were about to lose control of Press Up Group. The rumours came as two long-time associates of McKillen jnr’s father were appointed as directors to many of the limited companies that were behind Press Up Group’s restaurants and pubs in June 2024.[ Accenture reports earnings of $93bn in Ireland, more than Apple and Microsoft combinedOpens in new window ]In September 2024, Cheyne Capital, a long-standing finance partner of Press Up, which has since rebranded the chain as Eclective, took control of the hospitality group as part of a debt-for-equity swap.McKillen jnr took a step back from daily operations at Press Up, and so did Ryan. McKillen jnr remained a minority shareholder with the group, while the group said Ryan no longer had a stake in the business. Ryan also divested from Oakmount.In a rare statement at the time, McKillen jnr said it was “a source of pride how Press Up has grown since its inception introducing authentic concepts to the Dublin cityscape, such as the Stella Cinema and The Workman’s Club”.“We’re excited for the future and for the business to be able to focus on providing outstanding hospitality experiences for our customers and are also delighted to be staying involved, retaining a shareholding as well as board representation.”On the day he made those comments, receivers were appointed to a dozen restaurants that are part of the Press Up Group, including Elephant & Castle, Wowburger and Wagamama restaurants.While Press Up, by now rebranded as Eclective under the leadership of Patrick Sheehan, steadied itself under a restructuring process, McKillen was frequently in the news for a string of financial issues of his own. [ The issue that keeps Simon Harris awake at nightOpens in new window ]In March, receivers were appointed over almost €60 million-worth of real estate assets linked to McKillen jnr by lenders Relm Finance, including the former Topshop store on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. Then in June, a receiver was appointed by Cabriz Finance over two McKillen jnr firms controlling the properties housing the Stella Cinema and The Grayson.McKillen jnr sued receivers appointed by Relm whom he alleged unlawfully took over his Grafter business. He ultimately failed to secure injunctions against the receivers.More recently, the businessman faced a bankruptcy summons, which is the first step in bankruptcy proceedings, initiated by lender Herbert Street Finance over an alleged €2.1 million debt.McKillen jnr denied the existence of any debt over €20,000 and has sought to set aside the summons issued last January, which was rejected by the High Court in August.This case was playing out as news emerged that suggested McKillen jnr had secured a firm foothold back in the hospitality sector. He bought back the Workman’s Club in Dublin, once a jewel in the Press Up Group crown, for an undisclosed fee from Eclective.Today, it emerged he has applied to the High Court for a certificate that will protect him from his creditors for 70 days.Barrister Keith Farry, appearing for personal insolvency practitioner Eugene McDarby, successfully said McKillen jnr, of Torquay Road, Foxrock, Dublin, was “firmly insolvent” and had liabilities of €27.7 million. McKillen jnr, who was not in court when the application was made, owes €2.9 million to his wife Edel McKillen and €1.8 million to his mother Maura McKillen, the court heard. He has assets of just €143,295.72, according to documents provided to the court.Farry said McKillen jnr, who was once the envy of many in the hospitality industry and left scores of competitors jealous of his ability to rapidly build an empire of pubs, restaurants and hotels in a decade, gets €300 per week from his wife for his personal expenses and has been left with just €270 in his bank account.