Developer Seán Mulryan's Ballymore Group is the front-runner to develop a giant €3.4bn residential project in the oil-rich city of Basra in Iraq involving 25,000 houses, the Sunday Tribune has learned.

An announcement on the project is "imminent", according to sources, and could be made within days. The Basra Investment Commission has already said it is "willing to grant permission to an Irish firm" to construct the units in the province.

Hayder Ali Fadhil, the commission's director, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency that the company involved will develop 25,000 homes in Basra province. Sources in Ballymore confirmed its "familiarity" with the project but it could not be established if it is part of a larger consortium involved in the plan.

The thousands of houses are likely to be sold and rented to employees of Southern Oil, the Iraqi-owned oil company.

Basra is nearly 600km south of Baghdad, and according to its investment commission website, it also met the Irish-owned Frank Ennis Architects earlier this month to discuss projects including the construction of more than 20,000 homes as well as universities and schools.

"Concerning the sporting side, the company has shown willingness to build sports cities and modern stadiums for young citizens in Basra," the website states.

Roscommon-born Mulryan is one of the most recognisable developers in Ireland. He has extensive property interests across Ireland, Britain and Europe including a stake in the Whitewater shopping centre in Newbridge and several dockland sites in London. His firm also owns land in Nine Elms near Battersea in London and last week a master plan for the regeneration of the area was unveiled.

Earlier this year Mulryan and fellow developer Seán Dunne were granted planning permission to develop a shopping centre and residential units outside Greystones, Co Wicklow. He was also part of the Irish consortium that took over Sunderland Football Club and owns half of Markland Holdings, which controls properties in Ireland, the US, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Ballymore has been approached by struggling banks and landowners in recent months seeking its advice and help to develop struggling sites and investments. Ballymore is paid a fee or given a stake in the site in return for its expertise.