Plumber discovers cash stash in Dublin mansion

Around 200,000 euros have been found in the bathroom of a Dublin mansion formerly owned by a bust property entrepreneur who was once a member of the IRA.

One bundle of around 140,000 euros ($190,000) was found by a plumber working on the property on one of the city's most desirable roads. Hilary Hynes, the house's new owner who bought it for the knockdown price of 2.6 million euros in May, reported the find. Officers working for Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) have subsequently discovered a further 60,000 euros in the property.

Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny said to the Irish Independent: "I think all of that smacks of what happened during the so-called Tiger years, when you had profligacy and greed and money sloshing around in so many places that this is further evidence of what happened."

The Irish property bubble burst during the credit crisis, leading to the Irish government bailing out the country's heavily indebted banks. This eventually led to Ireland itself being bailed out by the International Monetary Fund and its fellow euro zone countries.

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The property was previously owned by Tom McFeely, an ex-Irish Republican Army hunger striker who made and lost a fortune in Ireland's property market. He owned the house, which was once valued at 15 million euros, since 2001, before the introduction of the euro currency. However, he had to move out of it after defaulting on the mortgage, which was then taken over by Ireland's National Assets Management Agency (Nama).

McFeely spent 53 days on hunger strike in 1980 while a member of the IRA imprisoned for attempted murder of police, possession of weapons and robbery. He built his fortune as a property developer following his release in 1989.

His business was hit in October 2011 by a safety scare at one of his developments, an apartment block called Priory Hall, which allegedly breached fire safety regulations. Residents have been moved out of the block by a court order, although the dispute has not yet concluded.

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The buyer of the property, Hynes, is married to Rory Godson, an ex-Sunday Times journalist who now runs Powerscourt, a PR agency which acts for many Irish companies in London. Godson was not immediately available for comment Friday.

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Plumber discovers cash stash in Dublin mansion