Nakheel Sells "Ireland" To Irish Consortium

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Mar 21st 2007 at 12:02PM

I've been following the development of "The World," Nakheel's Earth-shaped development in Dubai for a few years. The ambitious project to create islands representing the land masses of the world off the coast of Dubai has been steadily proceeding. Now comes the news that Nakheel has sold the island of Ireland to an Irish business consortium. Ireland sold for AED 142 million (around $38 million). The consortium will turn the island into "Ireland in the Sun" a resort with homes, restaurants and leisure opportunities with an Irish theme. Sometimes this whole project seems like a huge and luxurious version of Epcot Center.

Now that the world is reaching completion, interest in the project seems to be accelerating. Several celebrities have been rumored to have bought in to the project and last fall, race car driver Michael Schumacher was gifted with his own island. The islands are 92% reclaimed and construction should finish up by the end of 2008.

Tags: dubai, ireland, nakheel, the world, TheWorld