Barry O'Callaghan - Other Interests

Other Interests

In addition to his positions at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and EMPG, O'Callaghan has other investments, in particular in his native Cork with a stake in the Cliff House hotel, a 39 bedroom luxury hotel, in Ardmore, Co. Waterford, an investment in Cliff Town House a hotel/restaurant in St. Stephens Green in Dublin.

On 15 January 2010, the Irish Independent reported that Valshan, the company that operates the Cliff House Hotel owed O'Callaghan €3.5m at the end of 2008, based on information reported to the Irish tax authorities. The report showed a drop in accumulated profits in 2008, which may indicate that Valshan lost money in 2008. The hotel is estimated to have cost €20m of investment. O'Callaghan is the sole shareholder in Valshan, whose registered office is at EMPG's office in Dublin. ==Political links==

In September 2008, Enterprise Ireland, a government agency agreed to pay a €30m subsidy to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to guarantee that its research and development centre, the old Riverdeep unit, would not just remain in Ireland but increase the size of its workforce. Fianna Fáil's TD, Mary Coughlan, Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, praised the deal. At the time, Enterprise Ireland has a €650,000 investment limit to the amount it was allowed to devote to any project but this limit was ignored.

In late 2009, O'Callaghan was among a number of Irish business leaders invited by Irish Prime Minister, Brian Cowen to the government guest house, Farmleigh, to discuss ways to address the Irish Financial Crisis.