Experience

Shane is a partner in McCann FitzGerald’s Real Estate team and is personally recommended in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 as one of the leading real estate lawyers in Ireland.  He advises on traditional acquisition, development, finance, leasing and re-structuring through to newer areas such as green energy, student accommodation, data centres, primary care centres and the private rented sector.  He has also worked extensively with lawyers in other jurisdictions on the real estate elements arising in international M&A deals and on international property syndication transactions.  Shane often leads on complex mandates involving elements from the construction, funds, tax, insolvency and finance teams.

He headed up the Real Estate practice from 2015 to 2022 and has authored chapters on Irish real estate law for international comparative texts, lectured extensively on real estate topics and written for various national newspapers and legal journals.  

Key highlights include advising:

  • Global Student Accommodation, an international specialist in purpose-built student accommodation, on several significant acquisitions and developments in Ireland, including a recapitalisation and refinance on a substantial portion of its Irish portfolio, for a reported value of €400m.
  • Primary Health Properties REIT, the FTSE 250 primary care centre specialist on the acquisition, development and recapitalisation of a substantial number of properties in Ireland, including acting on private loan note placements secured on those assets.
  • Ardstone Capital Partners on the acquisition and development of several substantial private rented sector (PRS) developments and social housing lease transactions with local authorities.
  • Marlet Property Group in relation to securing finance for various developments in Dublin including One Lime St (216 apartments), The Shipping Office (182,000 sq ft), Walled Garden (142 apartments), Green Acre Grange (307 apartments) and Grand Canal Harbour (596 apartments with retail, office, clinical and amenity space).
  • Greencoat Renewables and Brookfield Renewable Ireland on several substantial windfarm transactions over the last number of years.
  • Numerous lenders including Activate Capital, Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c., Bank of Ireland, Broadhaven Credit Partners and Garrison Earlsfort Investments on various lending transactions, with loans secured on substantial Irish real estate assets and developments over the last number of years.
  • NAMA and various Receivers on substantial disposals of loans and property over the last number of years.
  • Lloyds Banking Group plc, on the real estate aspects of numerous sales of loan portfolios, largely backed by Irish real estate, for a total consideration in excess of €2b.
  • McDonald’s on its Irish real estate portfolio.
  • Shane also acts for Hammerson plc, M&G and IPUT plc amongst others.