{"id":521323,"date":"2026-06-27T14:28:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T14:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/521323\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T14:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T14:28:16","slug":"dispute-between-city-of-derry-hotel-founders-goes-before-the-high-court-amid-major-delay-of-7m-refurbishment-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/521323\/","title":{"rendered":"Dispute between City of Derry Hotel founders goes before the High Court amid major delay of \u00a37m refurbishment \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dispute between the founding families of the City Hotel<\/a> in Derry<\/a> has ended up before the High Court in Belfast, it can be revealed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood the row relates to a disagreement between the Duddy family the rest of the hotel\u2019s<\/a> original shareholders.<\/p>\n

The fallout is believed to be a significant factor in the ongoing delay to a planned \u00a37 million refurbishment programme for the 158-room venue.<\/p>\n

The dispute went before the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast on Friday, with an application lodged at the chancery court between Larry and Brendan Duddy\u2019s company – Duddy Superholdco Limited – on one side, and most of the hotel\u2019s shareholders on the other.<\/p>\n

\"Dispute<\/a>\"Reprieve<\/a><\/p>\n

The court application namechecks Greg McCartney, Eleanor McCartney Logue, Patrick Durkan, and City of Hotel Limited.<\/p>\n

\"AA view of the River Foyle from the City Hotel roof in Derry. (Bernard Ward) <\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood the application relates to an injunction by the Duddy brothers, seeking to stop the appointment of administrators to the hotel.<\/p>\n

However, sources familiar with the case said no application has been lodged to date seeking to appoint administrators.<\/p>\n

The hearing on Friday was adjourned until Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Built on the banks of the River Foyle in 2002 as a joint venture between the Duddy, Durkan and McCartney families, alongside Great Southern Hotels, a major relaunch of the City Hotel was announced in 2024<\/a> as part of a new partnership with the Hilton Hotel Group.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s expected to see the City Hotel rebranded as a Doubletree by Hilton property.<\/p>\n

\"AA visual published by Hilton, showing how the new City Hotel lobby should look once work is complete. <\/p>\n

But the work, which was originally due to be completed by 2025, has faced major delays, with the latest opening date pushed back to March 2028.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood that the slow pace of progress has left a significant proportion of the hotel\u2019s rooms out of commission.<\/p>\n

The Irish News understands the disagreement relates to the funding of the refurbishment work.<\/p>\n

It can also be revealed the City Hotel\u2019s shareholders now include Paul Martin, the father of the three men behind the Martin Property Group in Derry.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s understood the MPG has no involvement in the City Hotel investment.<\/p>\n

A new company established by Mr Martin last month acquired a shareholding on May 22.<\/p>\n

Pembroke Project Limited is now in control of Matthew Hotels Ltd, and holds a 30% share of the City Hotel.<\/p>\n

The 2024 Hilton announcement also saw the City Hotel\u2019s owners appoint Focus Hotels to run it.<\/p>\n

The English hotel management company also runs the nearby Holiday Inn Express in Derry city, which is owned by Larry and Brendan Duddy Junior.<\/p>\n

Focus also manage The Bedford Hotel in Belfast, which was launched by Mr Martin\u2019s sons in April this year.<\/p>\n

The Belfast city centre hotel is owned by RFM Hotels, a new north-west based hospitality business launched by Mike, Gary and Paul Martin junior alongside Beechland Enterprises, a company owned by Alison Rankin Frost and her husband Tim Frost.<\/p>\n

Ms Frost is the chair of aircraft manufacturer Britten-Norman, while her husband is a director of UK Export Finance and a former director of the Bank of England.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dispute between the founding families of the City Hotel in Derry has ended up before the High…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,7726,73,222224,9675,15940,61,60],"class_list":["post-521323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-derry","tag-high-court","tag-hilton","tag-hotel","tag-hotels","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}