Patrick GallagherPatrick Gallagher, who has died aged 54, was the former head of the Gallagher group, a property development, pub and banking business that collapsed spectacularly in April 1982.
A flamboyant figure, with a taste for expensive cars and race horses, he took charge of the group in 1974, at the age of 22, after the death of his father, Matt Gallagher, who had created the business. He later set up in business in England and in October 1990 was jailed in Northern Ireland following his conviction on charges of theft and fraud. He subsequently moved to South Africa.
A company director at the age of 12, he joined his father's business on a full-time basis at 17, having attended St Gerard's in Bray, and Clongowes Wood, Co Kildare.
His father built up his construction fortune from humble beginnings in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, and a first job labouring on an English building site. By the time of his death in 1974, the family interests had grown to 17 companies, and was regarded as a carefully nurtured inheritance.
Mr Gallagher described his father as one of a group of businessmen who set out to replace the Anglo-Irish in the big houses and estates that peppered the Irish countryside. Admirers of Charles Haughey, they decided to finance his lifestyle while he pursued his political career.
Many of the figures involved made use of the accountancy firm Haughey Boland and, in particular, made use of the services of Mr Haughey's accountant, the late Des Traynor.
Mr Traynor became a director of the Gallagher group and the group's affairs were eventually run from the Cayman Islands.
Matt Gallagher was one of the key figures behind the Fianna Fáil fundraising operation in that era, Taca. "Fianna Fáil was good for builders and builders were good for Fianna Fáil, and there was nothing wrong with that," Mr Gallagher said.
Stepping into his father's shoes, he moved away from house building, which had been the group's stock-in-trade, and turned to property development.
Among the highly lucrative deals he concluded was the purchase in 1979 of a mock-Georgian office block on St Stephen's Green, owned by the developer John Byrne, for £5.4 million and its resale five days later to the Irish Permanent Building Society at a profit of £2.25 million. Some felt that such deals helped to create the climate for the introduction of a special capital gains tax on windfalls from development deals.
By 1982, Gallagher companies owned the Slazenger site on St Stephen's Green, the former Alexandra College site on Earlsfort Terrace, the Phoenix Park racecourse, Donaghmede shopping centre, a three-house block on Lower Mount Street, Straffan House and stud (where he lived), Castle Howard, Dolanstown Stud and development land in Boyle, Co Roscommon, and in Limerick, as well as prime sites in the greater Dublin area.
But he over-reached himself. The Gallagher conglomerate began to crumble when a £15.75 million sale of the Slazenger site to Irish Life fell through and no other takers could be found. Meanwhile, because of the deepening recession and rising interest rates, the 330 acres at Fortunestown attracted little attention. Likewise, the £10 million Earlsfort Terrace site was looking increasingly unproductive, as the recession tempered rosy predictions of likely demand for office space.
The fall from grace was swift and efforts by the family failed to stave off the end for companies owing £25 million. Mr Gallagher always blamed the banks for the collapse of the group and claimed that he had been treated badly. He went into business in London, where he took advantage of the 1980s property boom in south-east England.
Meanwhile investigations began into the operation of part of the Gallagher group, Merchant Banking Ltd. Eventually Mr Gallagher was charged with fraud arising out of his dealings with the bank's Northern Ireland arm.
The liquidator's report in the Republic was sent to the DPP but no charges were brought against Mr Gallagher, prompting widespread public criticism. A large number of depositors lost money when the bank collapsed.
One of those who had loans out from the bank at the time was Mr Haughey.
Screening of a television documentary on the affair was deferred several times by RTÉ, and all reference to Mr Haughey was removed before the programme was finally shown. Released on bail, Mr Gallagher sought to raise the £1.2 million which was being sought by the court to recompense former investors. Mr Gallagher sought funds from a number of wealthy acquaintances, including Ben Dunne, who gave him £165,000.
A few years earlier, when Mr Dunne had been kidnapped by the IRA, Mr Gallagher had made cash available should the family wish to pay a ransom. In the event, Mr Gallagher managed to raise £750,000.
He told the Moriarty tribunal in May 1999 that in December 1979, two days after Mr Haughey was elected taoiseach for the first time, he agreed to a request from Mr Haughey for help in clearing a £1 million debt he had with AIB.
Mr Gallagher paid £300,000 to Mr Haughey. He told Mr Haughey that as the funds would be coming from the Gallagher group, he would need something "tangible" in return, and a deal was eventually agreed for the purchase of land from Mr Haughey.
However, a clause in the deal allowed the Haugheys to prevent it going ahead, so it never did. Nevertheless the £300,000 was issued as a deposit.
When the banks moved in and the Gallagher group collapsed in the early 1980s, the transaction came to the attention of the Revenue Commissioners. Although doubts existed about the bona fides of the deal, the fact that Mr Gallagher was such an unorthodox businessman meant this might be difficult to prove. The liquidator did not seek return of the money and the Revenue Commissioners were successful in securing capital gains tax from Mr Haughey.
At the tribunal, when it was suggested to Mr Haughey the agreement was "a sham, used as a vehicle for Mr Gallagher to get money to you", Mr Haughey said the suggestion was " totally false".
In September 1990, Mr Gallagher began a jail sentence in Crumlin Road jail, Belfast. Upon his release in 1992, Mr Gallagher moved to South Africa. He returned to Ireland a number of years ago.
He is survived by his partner Yvonne D'Arcy, his two sons Matthew and Patrick, and his former wife Susan Craigie.
Patrick Steven Sheeran Gallagher: born May 8th, 1951; died March 15th, 2006