Developer Sean Dunne Buggers Off To America

Degsy

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/dunne-ducks-out-of-d4-and-heads-west-2409918.html

By Dearbhail McDonald and Emmet Oliver
Saturday November 06 2010
DEVELOPER Sean Dunne has quit Ireland and is living in an exclusive private community in Greenwich, Connecticut, which is manned 24 hours a day by security personnel to protect its privileged residents.

The Irish Independent has learnt that Mr Dunne left the country to pursue business interests in New York and has since become the newest resident in Belle Haven, a secure residential compound that is home to hedge fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II and singer Diana Ross.

The former heads of IBM, Tom Watson and Louis Gerstner, the former CEO of Xerox, Peter McCollough and the former chairman of Goldman Sachs, John Weinberg, also live in the estate.

Mr Dunne, dubbed the Baron of Ballsbridge, became the poster boy for the Celtic Tiger's excess in 2004 when he splashed out €1.4m for a 14-day party aboard the yacht Christina O to mark his wedding to former Sunday Independent gossip journalist Gayle Killilea.

But he is nursing serious debts after paying €380m for the Jurys and Berkley Court hotels in Ballsbridge as part of a €1bn plan to redevelop the upmarket Dublin suburb.

On Sunday, Mr Dunne, Ms Killilea and their three young children went "trick or treating" on Bush Avenue, where the family has taken up residence in the grounds of the Belle Haven Yacht Club, one of the world's most exclusive private members' clubs, where annual membership is reportedly $250,000 (€176,000).

Mr Dunne, who did not respond to a series of requests from the Irish Independent about his business plans in the US, is believed to be engaged in a number of projects in New York with a high profile NAMA-bound Irish developer.

Each year Paul Tudor Jones II, who founded the Tudor Investment Corporation and has an estimated net worth of $3bn (€2.1bn), holds an annual Halloween party at his Belle Haven home for the residents of Greenwich, where the average home sells for $2,208,000 (€1,557,000).

Neighbourhood

But the party was cancelled this year owing to "safety and security concerns of the neighbourhood". The cancellation sent shockwaves through Greenwich and was even reported in 'The New York Times'.

Frank Creamer, the manager of the Belle Haven Land Company, confirmed that the party had instead been held privately at the yacht club, restricted to members and Belle Haven residents only.

Mr Creamer said the value of the homes in Belle Haven was on a par with other areas in Greenwich but that residents valued the privacy the secure community offered.

"It is a private area; people with means live here," he said, adding that details of the residents' identities could not be disclosed.

Mr Dunne earlier this year surrendered a major stake in his Ballsbridge hotel site. Two companies controlled by Ulster Bank, Dutch lender Rabobank and the UK unit of the fallen Icelandic bank Kaupthing have taken holdings in the sites of three hotels.

However, one of Mr Dunne's companies has agreed to continue renting the sites. Mr Dunne could be facing major financial pressure because he is likely to have personally guaranteed some of the borrowings he has taken out.

Mr Dunne's company, D4 Hotels, runs the Jurys and Berkeley Court properties and Mr Dunne often socialises there, particularly during rugby matches, with his wife.

A number of loans, not connected to these hotels, are believed to have gone into NAMA in later tranches although Mr Dunne is not believed to be in the top 10 of developers.

The last set of accounts published for Mr Dunne's main company, Mountbrook Homes, showed it was losing almost half a million euro a year.

Mr Dunne is among a number of former boom poster boys who have relocated out of Ireland.

Derek Quinlan, a former tax inspector turned international property investor, has also quit Ireland with his family to take up permanent residence in Switzerland

Rats leaving the sinking ship while the country bleeds to death.:rolleyes:

Biggins

He's not the first to run... Nothing new here.

galwayrush

Pretty much expected.

scientific1982

Those ****ers have no shame. We're better off not having scum like that in this country anyway.

easyeason3

I'm more interested in knowing why Derek Quinlan, a former tax inspector, has left.

orourkeda

That's anothe finger up our sphincters

scientific1982

Can someone at least punch one of these people in the face and upload it onto youtube. I know its morally wrong, criminal and childish, but it might be the only thing to give me that warm Christmas feeling this year.

Ulysses Gaze

easyeason3 wrote: »

I'm more interested in knowing why Derek Quinlan, a former tax inspector, has left.

When he owes €600 million and when lots of his friends and neighbours invested in his 'foolproof' property schemes also got burned, it's safe to say he's persona non gratia on Ailesbury Road.

wellboy76

Hope he flew Quantas

Trev M

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

he's persona non gratia on Ailesbury Road.

Oh great ..well at least there's that, back to my cheese :pac:

Corsendonk

Will we miss them?

cson

This whole Property-Developer-Leaving-The-Country has been dunne to death at this stage... :pac:

Ulysses Gaze

Trev M wrote: »

Oh great ..well at least there's that, back to my cheese :pac:

Don't worry...all these brass necks will be swanning back to Ireland in a few years once they've declared Bankruptcy in the States, Switzerland or the UK and sat around for the required x number of years before starting again with a clean slate and a wad of cash that was in the 'Missus' name..

BillShorey

I'll be honest and say that if it were me, I'd be out of here like a shot too.

Mr Benevolent

Corsendonk wrote: »

Will we miss them?

That depends. Do you own a sniper rifle?

Terry

I have a honeycomb structure.

Degsy

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

clean slate and a wad of cash that was in the 'Missus' name..

Why,yes...

The Express

America. Home of the brave, land of the free.

Delete as appropriate.

maxwell smart

Maybe he reckons he can Tarmac a few of those new neighbours driveways, then, when the Tarmac starts to have a few problems, he can return to Ireland in triumph! (and stay in his wifes gaff).

My name is URL

I'm confused.. should I be outraged at the idea that yet another greedy bastard has fcuked off when the going got tough, or at the 'typically Irish' begrudgery shown towards the enterprising fellow?

BillShorey

I don't understand why people would even expect the so called "greedy" to stick around to lose it all when they have the opportunity to go off and live happily elsewhere. Does not compute.

Degsy

BillShorey wrote: »

I don't understand why people would even expect the so called "greedy" to stick around to lose it all

Maybe because its thier bastard fault that the rest of us stand to "lose it all"!

starbelgrade

Terry wrote: »

I have a honeycomb structure.

Are you crunchie?

Degsy

starbelgrade wrote: »

Are you crunchie?

I think Terrance prefers mars bars :pac:

jackiebaron

Degsy wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/dunne-ducks-out-of-d4-and-heads-west-2409918.html




Rats leaving the sinking ship while the country bleeds to death.:rolleyes:

Still, we caught some filthy scumbag from the Congo claiming dole whilst working as a chef in Temple Bar and locked him up for 18 months.

Big catch. Swings and roundabouts.

dsmythy

You'd swear he personally did the country in. Everyone gotta take the blame. Why the anger towards him? It's not his fault we didn't arrest him.

jackiebaron

The Express wrote: »

America. Home of the brave, land of the free.

Delete as appropriate.

Home of the slave and land of the fee.

Degsy

dsmythy wrote: »

You'd swear he personally did the country in. Everyone gotta take the blame.

Yeah..coz i agreed to lend him 600 million to speculate on a proerty in ballsbridge that he intended to make aprofit of 600 million on.:rolleyes:

I further agreed to allow my govt to tax me into the ground to make sure the bastard never has to pay it back.

dsmythy

Degsy wrote: »

Yeah..coz i agreed to lend him 600 million to speculate on a proerty in ballsbridge that he intended to make aprofit of 600 million on.:rolleyes:

Everyone got to take the blame, including him. Like I said, he's not going to throw himself into jail so I don't know why the outrage is on him for getting on with his life.

BillShorey

Degsy: Would you really hang around though? I can't think of many who would genuinely hang around and go broke here while having the opportunity to live a good life somewhere else at hand.

There's no point in getting angry at him. It's a fault of the legal and financial system here that this could happen and he can't be blamed for playing the game and looking after himself.

There was a massive money and credit grab by the majority of people here and everyone is reluctant to give it up now. Totally understandable.

shomrockkid

"What matters is having a stake in the country. And the Dunner is certainly doing that" Barry Egan

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/gayle-gives-sean-a-stake-in-our-bright-future-2161800.html

Ah, humble pie anyone?

Augmerson

shomrockkid wrote: »

"What matters is having a stake in the country. And the Dunner is certainly doing that" Barry Egan

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/gayle-gives-sean-a-stake-in-our-bright-future-2161800.html

Ah, humble pie anyone?

Jesus Christ..."the Dunner".

scientific1982

dsmythy wrote: »

You'd swear he personally did the country in. Everyone gotta take the blame. Why the anger towards him? It's not his fault we didn't arrest him.

I dont have to take the blame for ****. Ive never voted FF in my life nor have I ever lived beyond my means. This everyone has to shoulder the blame stuff is getting very old, very fast.

dsmythy

scientific1982 wrote: »

I dont have to take the blame for ****. Ive never voted FF in my life nor have I ever lived beyond my means. This everyone has to shoulder the blame stuff is getting very old, very fast.

What are you going to do about it? Serious question.

Degsy

dsmythy wrote: »

What are you going to do about it? Serious question.

A couple of ideas present themselves..anybody with a mortage stop paying it..the banks cant do shiit about it really and secondly...RIOT!!!

ballsymchugh

at least good ole seanie is hanging around!!:pac:

dsmythy

ballsymchugh wrote: »

at least good ole seanie is hanging around!!:pac:

'Shamelessly' so of course :pac:

scientific1982

dsmythy wrote: »

What are you going to do about it? Serious question.

Protest like a muthphucka

Degsy

scientific1982 wrote: »

Protest like a muthphucka

Check it out..Nov 27th..

dsmythy

scientific1982 wrote: »

Protest like a muthphucka

Which one will you be joining? The pensioners will be out when their pensions are under threat. The students will be out when their fees are under threat. The taxi drivers will be out if anyone looks at them wrong. The unemployed don't really protest. The lefty politicos will have their splintered protests, but they'd protest in Utopia to be fair.

One day you might see students out protesting with the pensioners or pensioners out with the students. One day you will see protesters offering their alternative. Probably not though.

Terry

starbelgrade wrote: »

Are you crunchie?

No. I was just typing words I heard on the telly.
The discovery channel was on.

Degsy wrote: »

I think Terrance prefers mars bars :pac:

I don't know what your defininition of a "Mars Bar" is, but you would fall under my definition of one.

Jersey Shore is on now. I'm waiting for the episode where you show them all up with your muscles and awesome fist-pumping skills.

Degsy

dsmythy wrote: »

Which one will you be joining? The pensioners will be out when their pensions are under threat. The students will be out when their fees are under threat. The taxi drivers will be out if anyone looks at them wrong. The unemployed don't really protest. The lefty politicos will have their splintered protests, but they'd protest in Utopia to be fair.

One day you might see students out protesting with the pensioners or pensioners out with the students. One day you will see protesters offering their alternative. Probably not though.

Well for all the bullshiit about the public sector,there's 350,000 of us and there's gonna be a LOT of unrest.

dsmythy

Degsy wrote: »

Well for all the bullshiit about the public sector,there's 350,000 of us and there's gonna be a LOT of unrest.

Oh yeah i forgot about you guys. I'll add you to the list.

The pensioners will be out when their pensions are under threat.
The students will be out when their fees are under threat.
The public sector will be out when their pay is under threat.

I say all three groups want The Labour Party.

scientific1982

dsmythy wrote: »

Which one will you be joining? The pensioners will be out when their pensions are under threat. The students will be out when their fees are under threat. The taxi drivers will be out if anyone looks at them wrong. The unemployed don't really protest. The lefty politicos will have their splintered protests, but they'd protest in Utopia to be fair.

One day you might see students out protesting with the pensioners or pensioners out with the students. One day you will see protesters offering their alternative. Probably not though.

Pensioners is a definite. Students im not sure yet. Taxi drivers, meh.

WindSock

I keep reading the title as dune buggy.

Misanthrope

He mightn't be as safe as he imagines here in the US.

B.E.S.T.

He is playing his cards pretty close to his chest over here. I know a few yanks he has crossed paths with and they haven`t a clue of of half of the **** he caused. To them he`s just another developer with a trophy wife, big car and big house that ran into problems in the recession and they are a dime a dozen over here..........

Snakeblood

B.E.S.T. wrote: »

He is playing his cards pretty close to his chest over here. I know a few yanks he has crossed paths with and they haven`t a clue of of half of the **** he caused. To them he`s just another developer with a trophy wife, big car and big house that ran into problems in the recession and they are a dime a dozen over here..........

He's hardly likely to be walking around with a tshirt that says 'I ****ed Ireland and all I got was this lousy tshirt'.

Snickers Man

from the original indo report wrote:

The former heads of IBM, Tom Watson and Louis Gerstner, the former CEO of Xerox, Peter McCollough and the former chairman of Goldman Sachs, John Weinberg, also live in the estate.

I wonder do they mean Thomas Watson Sr, the original head of IBM, or his son TJ Watson Jr who succeeded him and stayed at the helm for many years.

But as even Junior has been dead for nearly 20 years, either of them would be whiffing a bit by now.

What would the neighbours think?

Degsy

Misanthrope wrote: »

He mightn't be as safe as he imagines here in the US.

Really?