The Irish Times Business Person of the Month: Michael Stanley, Cairn Homes

Michael Stanley, the co-founder and chief executive of Cairn Homes, has been chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month for March, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland.

During the month, the housebuilder announced record revenue of €667 million for last year on the back of “exceptionally” strong demand.

Cairn said it invested €439.9 million in construction work in progress during the year, with the number of home commencements rising 20 per cent to 2,100.

“Construction of homes for first time buyers is a core market for us, having delivered over 500 new starter homes at average competitive market prices of just under €400,000 last year,” Mr Stanley said.

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“Our sustained positive momentum has carried through into 2024 and strong sales since the beginning of the year has seen our closed and forward order book growing further to 2,473 new homes,” he added.

Described as the Michael O’Leary of house building, Mr Stanley used the publication of the company’s results to highlight his concerns about the current state of the housing market and its impact on young people and the Irish economy.

“We are an affluent society [but] this feels like the mid-80s when people were leaving here because we had no work ... these kids are leaving because there is no housing,” Mr Stanley said. “We have to wake up and realise this ... we are destroying our economy because of our housing shortage for young people.”

Cairn Homes said it was targeting growth of 30 per cent for this year, with 2,200 new units being completed.