Racing figures stump up €7 million to save Riverdance's Michael Flatley from the receivers

Maurice Regan and Luke Comer, two of Irish racing’s major investors, have stepped in to provide an emergency €7 million loan to famed dancer Michael Flatley to prevent his Irish estate falling into receivership.

Flatley has been locked in a legal battle with lenders over an alleged default on a €6.5m loan which was used in part to finance a spy film, Blackbird, which the Lord of the Dance and Riverdance star had directed, produced and in which he had acted.

According to the Business Post, the company that had provided the loan, Novellus Finance, had appointed receivers to Flatley’s Castlehyde Estate and mansion in County Cork, which had been bought in 1999, as it sought to regain its money.

Last month, Flatley successfully applied in the High Court for an interim injunction against the receivers and has subsequently been put in a position to repay the sum owed after Regan and Comer clubbed together to rescue him. The loan has reportedly been made on a “supporting a friend” basis with the Castlehyde Estate acting as collateral.

Regan, who was born in County Kerry, founded New York-based construction giant JT Magen in 1992 and remains chief executive of the firm.

Owner-breeder Maurice Regan (right) and Luke Comer have provided an emergency loanCredit: Patrick McCann

Together with his wife Samantha, Regan owns Newtown Anner Stud near Clonmel and has enjoyed a number of high-profile successes, including landing the 2015 Champion Stakes and 2016 Tattersalls Gold Cup with Fascinating Rock, and winning last year’s German 1,000 Guineas with Darnation.

Comer, alongside his brother Brian, started out as a plasterer in Galway in the 1980s before creating the multi-national property empire the Comer Group.

Luke Comer was at the centre of one of Irish racing’s biggest drugs cases in 2023 when 12 of his horses tested positive for anabolic steroids. Comer was banned for three years and fined more than €800,000, with the appeal board upholding the decision last summer.

Despite his ban, Comer remains a prominent sponsor, with the Comer Group backing last year’s Irish St Leger and the company’s name appearing on the breeches of riders due to its financial input into the Irish Jockeys Association career-ending insurance scheme.

Flatley is a neighbour to the Coolmore operation as the team’s National Hunt stallion farm, Castlehyde Stud, is close to the Irish dancer's estate.

Quoted in the Business Post, a spokesman for Coolmore's John Magnier said: “Michael Flatley is an excellent neighbour in Castlehyde and the hope is he will continue to be a neighbour there for many years to come."

Read more:

Luke Comer's appeal against three-year ban after major doping scandal is dismissed 

Huge doping scandal hits Ireland as billionaire businessman Luke Comer banned for three years and hit with fines and costs of €840,754 

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