Last year, he moved to London to take up the prestigious post of the chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in the UK and has just bought a property in the centre of London. He is now putting his three-bed Victorian home in Phibsboro, Dublin on the market.

Despite all his achievements, Fingleton remains as much in the dark as the rest of us when it comes to the predicting what will happen with the property market in Ireland.

"I consistently get the market wrong, " he says wryly. "Ten years ago, when I bought No 37 Goldsmith Street, I was incredibly nervous, I wasn't sure about the price. Nobody knew back then that the market would continue to grow . . . we were all buying into the unknown."

Six months into his new job at the OFT, Fingleton has finally found a three-bed apartment in a 1930s' development between Regent's Park and Oxford Circus. "It was very stressful . . . I looked at about 30-40 places and thought I had found a place just after Christmas. But then the owner decided he wanted more and in London, people get their City bonuses in January, which they then sink into new property so it's a particularly difficult time to try and buy."

As delighted as he is with his new home, Fingleton admits it will be a huge wrench selling Goldsmith Street. "Although I've been living over in the UK since November, I wasn't ready to sell until now. But it's becoming more difficult to maintain a spanned existence and with prices in central London, I really had to sell to buy where I wanted."

In the 10 years since he bought Goldsmith Terrace, Fingleton has sympathetically and extensively renovated and refurbished the 139sq m (1,500sq ft) property, which has been rewired, replumbed and reroofed. He also added a glazed extension to the rear, transforming the house into a very comfortable and modern city home ideal for family living and for entertaining.

Situated on a quiet residential road close to Phibsborough village and Broadstone basin, the westfacing property boasts many period features as well as a large open-plan kitchen/dining room extension with French doors to the rear patio garden.

Accommodation includes a spacious hall with original features and wooden flooring as well as understairs storage and downlights. A large, bright livingroom to the front of the house has double doors leading to a family room . . .

both have cast-iron fireplace, downlighting and original wooden flooring.

Double doors lead to the glazed kitchen/diningroom extension. The kitchen has an extensive range of floor and wall units, granite worktop, tiled floor and tiled splashback. Appliances include wide oven, separate cooker, five-burner hob, Miele dishwasher and American style fridge/freezer. There is ample room for a large dining table.

Downstairs, accommodation also includes a shower room with wc and whb with fully tiled floor and wall and a utilityroom plumbed for a washing machine with shelving and tiled floor Upstairs accommodation includes bathroom with castiron bath and wooden flooring and single bedroom on the return. All the bedrooms have cast-iron fireplaces, the second bedroom is a large double room and also has original window shutters. The master bedroom to the front spans the width of the house and has two windows, making it a very well lit room Outside there is a railed garden with wisteria to the front. The west-facing rear garden includes decking, outdoor lighting and herbs, fruit bushes and flowers.

Price: AMV 775,000; auction 18 May Agent: HOK Residential 01-8302960