TIM MAHONY, who has died aged 77, was chairman of Killeen Investments, the holding company for his motor business which imported Toyota and Lexus cars to Ireland.
A Dublin footballer in the early 1950s, he was the owner of the Mount Juliet hotel and golf club and Ballylinch Stud. He also owned Fota Island golf course in Cork, but sold it. In addition, he was a loyal supporter of the arts.
Born in 1931 in Glasnevin, Dublin, he was the youngest of the four children of Matthew Mahony and his wife Joan (née O'Sullivan). He moved to Cork as a teenager to live with his aunt following the death of his father - his mother having died earlier. A pupil of St Joseph's CBS, Marino, he continued his education at the North Monastery, Cork.
He started his career in the Civil Service, working for the Local Appointments Commission. He subsequently moved to Exide Batteries and Údarás na Gaeltachta before becoming sales manager at Wavin in Balbriggan, Co Dublin.
But despite doubling his sales figures every year, he was later sacked from Wavin. "I was probably hard to manage, and maybe a bit of a maverick." He went into business, leasing cars with his brother Denis. They were among the first in the country to buy Toyota cars from Stephen O'Flaherty, who dominated the motor industry with franchises for Mercedes, Volkswagen and Audi and what was then the little-known Toyota brand.
In 1972, the brothers leased eight cars to RHM Foods, the company behind such household names such as Bisto and Gateaux. It was a good contract, but the brothers did not realise its true potential until RHM's managing director, Paddy Cotter, alerted them to the possibility of selling more of these cars to the public.
The Mahonys approached O'Flaherty and a deal was struck. Taking over the franchise, the brothers were confident they could achieve much bigger sales. At the time, cars such as Ford Escorts, VW Beetles and Hillman Avengers dominated the market and the brothers faced an uphill struggle.
When they bought the Toyota franchise, its share of the new car market was 0.1 per cent. It climbed as high as 18 per cent and became the market leader.
The brothers eventually went their separate ways, with Denis operating a string of garages while Tim retained the car franchise.
He became the second-longest serving importer in Europe behind his Dutch friend Evert Lowman. Toyota made both men extremely wealthy and the two exercised an unparalleled influence on Toyota's expansion and European model line-up.
Tim succeeded for a number of reasons. Although he never mastered the Japanese language, he took a considerable interest in learning about Japanese life and culture. "He built up a rapport with them that was very impressive and they eventually trusted him," says a colleague.
He was renowned for straight talking with dealers. They relied on him for guidance and he once charmed a trade audience by telling them: "The more I see of the professions, the more I love to look into the honest eyes of a second-hand car dealer." Tim was also extremely shrewd and had an autocratic management style until his later years, when he allowed other Toyota and Lexus executives more autonomy in running the business.
His investment in golf followed a 1996 exhibition match between Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros in Dublin, sponsored by Toyota. He heard that Nicklaus wanted to design a course in Ireland, and invited him to do so at Mount Juliet.
Since then, Mount Juliet has hosted three Irish Open golf championships and two world championships. Another acquisition was Ballylinch, a Kilkenny stud farm which had its first success when The Caretaker, trained by Dermot Weld, won the Cartier Million at the Phoenix Park.
He owned two other two-year-old champion fillies in the 1990s, Priory Belle and Danaskaya, both trained by Jim Bolger. He bred, before selling on, Red Rock, which was a Breeders' Cup Turf winner in 2006.
He was a patron of the National Youth Orchestra and the Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick. He helped finance the Helix Centre at Dublin City University where the main auditorium, the Mahony Hall, is named after him.
His interest in sport was reflected in Toyota's sponsorship of Munster rugby during the past four years, when the team won two Heineken Cups. This year he oversaw Toyota's sponsorship of the All-Ireland football championship. Other sports sponsorship includes the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown, the richest National Hunt race of the winter season.
Tim Mahony was awarded honorary degrees by Dublin City University and University College Cork. Those who knew him well say he was happiest playing his Tuesday morning four-ball at Royal Dublin, and attending the Munster hurling final.
He is survived by his wife Maeve, daughters Joan, Jenny, Mary, Sarah, brother Denis, and sisters Joan and Mary.
Tim Mahony: born April 14th, 1931; died June 21st, 2008