Profile - Sean Dunne: Only time will tell whether property developer Sean Dunne's purchase of the AIB site in Ballsbridge for €200 million represents brave business or 'mad money', writes Siobhán Creaton
This week Sean Dunne can claim to be the king of Ballsbridge. By agreeing to shell out another €200 million to buy a large chunk of AIB's land in the heart of Dublin 4 he now controls three of Europe's most expensive sites.
The scramble to hoover up vast tracts of this much sought-after neighbourhood is part of "Dunner's" dream to bring Knightsbridge to Dublin.
Within the next five years he hopes to be well on his way towards building his own "Trump Tower" at Jurys. He wants to create "a city within a city", with apartments surrounded by shops, restaurants, cafes, bars and a hotel.
His grand scheme for Jurys, which he expects to submit to the planning authorities by the end of this year, is likely to challenge the city's development plan and could utterly change the Ballsbridge landscape. Dunne will be literally seeking to scale new heights to realise his dream.
It will be another three years before he is ready to seek planning permission for what is also likely to be a mixed development - to include a hotel, apartments, offices and shops - on the AIB site.
When this latest coup was announced on Wednesday, Dunne was letting it be known that he viewed the roughly €55 million an acre he was paying to AIB as "good value". It was broadly in line with what he had paid at Jurys, his spokesman said.
What seems like good value to Dunner is seen as "mad money" by some of his peers. They can't see how he expects to squeeze a decent profit from these outrageously expensive sites.
At the height of the Jurys takeover battle, his namesake, Ben Dunne, told one newspaper that anybody he had spoken to about the eye-watering sums on the table said it was "loony stuff". "Egos are dangerous things," he cautioned. At the time, Jim Mansfield, who developed the giant Citywest leisure and golf complex described Dunne as "a brave man".
Dunne, who is in his early 50s, is from Tullow, Co Carlow. Since qualifying as a quantity surveyor in 1977 he has gone on to amass a multimillion fortune.
HIS FIRST BIG deal as a developer was when he acquired 70 acres of land in Bray, Co Wicklow, for a then record price of £14 million, which was transformed into a series of housing estates. From there he graduated to the big league, joining a consortium put together by David Shubotham of Davy Stockbrokers that bought a large parcel of land at St Helen's in Booterstown, on the south side of Dublin in the early 1990s, just before Ireland's housing boom.
The houses were among the most expensive to come on the market at that time and proved difficult to sell, and Dunne soon found himself in conflict with Shubotham and the other members of the consortium. "That experience of going up against the stockbrokers toughened him up, possibly gave him the steel to go on and achieve what he has since," said one person who knows him.
It has also left him unafraid of initiating legal proceedings - this skirmish was to prove to be the curtain-raiser for many a legal wrangle and high-profile row.
Soon after moving to Dublin's most exclusive address, Shrewsbury Road, Dunne fought with his neighbour, Blacktie clothes hire owner Niall O'Farrell, over the boundary. A spat with rival developer and solicitor Noel Smyth ensued after he objected to Smyth's holiday home at the exclusive K Club in Co Kildare, where Dunne owns one of the finest properties.
And next week a court battle with accountant and deal maker Kevin Warren is due to open at the High Court, over Dunne's 50 per cent stake in the newly-opened Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge, Co Kildare. Warren is asking the High Court to insist that Dunne honour an agreement to sell his stake in the centre for €37.5 million. Dunne says he is under no such obligation.
"He is a tough and formidable businessman and has no fear of going to court," says one business associate. "He goes straight for the jugular. If you are on the wrong side of him you had better watch out."
Over the years he has been behind developments such as Charlesland in Greystones, Co Wicklow, where some in the business believe he earned about €100 million. Massive developments at Rathfarnham in Dublin and in Celbridge in Co Kildare added to his fortune and he continues to hold large plots of land in these areas, which hold further development potential.
HE IS DESCRIBED as someone who is always looking at "the big picture" and is said to have impressed his advisers on the Jurys deal with his tremendous grasp of detail. "He understood every step of the way and was often ahead of his own team and the Jurys team," said one. Others say he would thrive in this situation as he loves things to be complicated. "He loves intrigue," one friend said.
Today Dunne and his second wife, the former gossip columnist Gayle Killilea, are described as the "king and queen of the high life".
The couple, who met in the Fianna Fáil hospitality tent at the Galway Races four years ago, were married in Thailand after a whirlwind romance.
Three months later they held a party in Italy, bringing their friends and family to the lavish bash on board Aristotle Onassis's legendary yacht, Christina.
The invited guests included Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who didn't attend but rang the couple to convey his congratulations on the day. EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy was also on the guest list.
Dunne is steeped in Fianna Fáil, and former party fundraiser Des Richardson is a good mate. One person who attended a lunch hosted by Dunne and Killilea at their home noted the other guests included "half of the Cabinet".
OUTSIDE WORK HIS great passion is rugby and he is a long-time member of Lansdowne Rugby Football Club. His friends include the former Irish rugby international Moss Keane. Such is his dedication to the sport that he made the largest ever donation to Clongowes Wood College, which two of his sons attended, giving more than €1 million to build Ireland's only all-weather rugby pitch.
As Dunne makes yet another bold move in Ballsbridge, only time will tell whether he will prove the naysayers wrong and realise his dream. Within the property world, one person said Dunne is now seen as a barometer for the Irish economy. "There is a feeling that if Dunner comes a cropper, so does Ireland," he said.
The Dunne File:
Who is he? Sean Dunne, known as "Dunner", is one of Ireland's biggest and boldest property developers.
Why is he in the news? This week he has swelled his Ballsbridge property portfolio by agreeing to pay €200 million for almost four acres of prime land owned by AIB.
His most appealing characteristic? He is exceedingly generous to friends and certain causes.
His least appealing characteristic? Cross him at your peril.
Most likely to say? Ballsbridge is the new Knightsbridge
Least likely to say? As a location, Ballsbridge is over-rated.