The Builders Revisited
From a life of high-octane property wheeling and dealing to days filled with increasingly frantic attempts to keep the wolf from the door, the nightmare is getting worse for the high-flying developers brought back to earth with a resounding thump, write Frank McDonald and Kathy Sheridan in a six-part series
- Mon: Seán Dunne
- Tues: Liam Carroll
- Wed: Bernard McNamara
- Thurs: Ballymore Properties
- Fri: Treasury Holdings
- Brakes are on and plans are on hold, but Treasury says it's in it for long haul
TREASURY HOLDINGS: Even in a recession and with the commercial property market in the doldrums, Treasury Holdings is building two major office schemes in Dublin - with not a single tenant yet lined up - High flyer still optimistic despite bleak outlook BALLYMORE PROPERTIES: At its peak, Ballymore had a development plan worth £15bn in Britain, Ireland and Europe
- Tough year for man once lionised as a 'wizard' BERNARD McNAMARA: Clare-born developer Bernard McNamara took the public ‘hit’ for the collapse of PPP schemes in Dublin
- Top name in urban renewal is now virtually idle LIAM CARROLL: The facade began to crack last July with news of a €20 million Aer Lingus share loss, writes FRANK McDONALD
- Developer who gambled big - and lost SEAN DUNNE: The Carlow man's €379 million Ballsbridge vision depended on a highly speculative deal, writes FRANK McDONALD
- Can the builders survive the hit?'IT WAS LIKE a 10-year dream," says the disconsolate developer, turning his mobile to silent, in a futile effort to shut out the clamorous world. "Now it's like a tsunami that just keeps coming." And meanwhile, as one architect wryly put it, the politicians, bankers and regulators are "still playing volleyball on the beach".
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