A leading businessman who owns a former hotel destroyed in a suspected arson attack, is involved in a huge array of companies, including one that lists as shareholders hundreds of organisations and many individuals linked to the loyal orders.
David Mahon, a leading Orangemen based in the Enniskillen area, is a director of Union Arch Properties, established in 1998 and which owns commercial retail interests worth more than £4.6m.
Mr Mahon was propelled into the public eye again recently with the announcement he had purchased the crumbling Crumlin Road Courthouse but there is also a planning fight in England as he bids to demolish a former mental hospital.
The businessman said he was “shocked” at the suspected arson attack on the storied Old Railway Hotel in Enniskillen, which followed an earlier one on the same building in March last year. It has been derelict for approximately six years.
More than 40 firefighters and nine appliances tackled the blaze at the Forthill Street property, which broke out early on Tuesday morning. Part of the hotel’s roof collapsed during the blaze and first and second floor rooms were seen on fire.
Mr Mahon, Grand Master of the Co Donegal Grand Orange Lodge, his native county, told The Irish News there are advanced plans to knock the building and build apartments on the site.
His emergence as the owner following the blaze has only added to Mr Mahon’s high profile after it was revealed he had bought Crumlin Road Courthouse, the landmark B2 listed building which closed in 1998.
The developer is hoping to turn the building into an hotel or aparthotel but said he wants to keep some of the interior character, including a couple of the court rooms. However, The Irish News previously reported he is also thinking of the possibility of a private hotel.
His companies also own several large scale commercial properties, including the recently-purchased Linen Green Shopping Village in Dungannon, De Courcy Centre in Carrickfergus; Kings Square Shopping Mall in east Belfast and Murrayfield Shopping Centre in Larne.
Among the multiple of dozens of companies he is involved with is Union Arch Properties, a public limited company owned by shareholders but managed by the directors.
Union Arch, which owns two commercial properties worth more than £4.6m and reported net assets of £4.1m to the end of March 2023, has hundreds of shareholders spread across the north, with many of the organisations linked to the Orange Order or the Apprentice Boys.
Mr Mahon disputed most of the shareholders were linked to the loyal orders, arguing there “might be some” out of the hundreds of investors, organisations and individuals. Union Arch wholly owns a second property company.
One of his most ambitious projects stands near Lancaster in the north of England, an abandoned and badly vandalised former mental hospital, which has become a magnet for both vandals and artists, including photographers.
Lancaster City Council refused an application to demolish the Ridge Lea Asylum due to “insufficient information regarding environmental impacts in the proposal”. Mr Mahon said he still hopes to demolish the vast building, but added one of his companies does have pre-planning for 1,200 homes on nearby former prison farmland.