The entrepreneurial rise and fall of a scrappy Northsider with high-tech vision

Fran Rooney remains a force to be reckoned with, despite the market's overwhelming focus on the company's more recent under-performance and analyst criticism of his role in architecting that downslide. The debate over what has gone wrong, how much responsibility sits with Mr Rooney, and what should have been done will no doubt continue for months.

But in the midst of market negativity and a tendency here to see his departure as a sign of failure - an overly large-scale tragedy on a very small Irish stage - Mr Rooney's achievement at Baltimore, and his profile within the technology industry, should not be underestimated.

For despite Baltimore's woes over the past nine months or so, he remains one of the most respected and admired technology leaders to come out of this State, and one of a handful in the technology industry of true international calibre. The scars from the current pummelling - and, if he is wise, the experience gained from lessons learned - will likely add to, rather than besmirch, Mr Rooney's reputation in quarters where it counts.

Mr Rooney's entrepreneurial rise is as unusual a story as that of Baltimore, the then six-person consultancy he purchased for £300,000 (€381,000) in 1996. The scrappy Dublin Northsider from Cabra may have left school in 1974, but over 16 years as a civil servant in the Department of Post and Telegraphs he acquired expertise and qualifications in finance, accountancy, administration and computer programming. He then left the civil service and worked in computing, finance and finally, company management before buying Baltimore with the backing of businessman Mr Dermot Desmond in 1996.

A skilled footballer, he also played for the reserves of several teams during that time, including Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians, and Home Farm, and spent six years as coach of the Irish woman's national football team.

The self-drive, tenacity and self-confidence of the adult student transferred well into the business world, while Mr Rooney put the best elements of a sports coach - the ability to offer vision, inspire others, and drive a team - into his management style at Baltimore.

He has always had the visionary's ability to trust utterly in his instincts, convey his own convictions and dedication, and align others with that way of thinking. Observers describe him as smooth and polished when he spoke to potential investors at Baltimore's road show before listing on the Nasdaq, and his keynotes at conferences were always self-assured.

One close observer says Mr Rooney has a big personality as opposed to a big ego, always very much the centre around which Baltimore revolved but also down to earth when socialising and happy to make a fool of himself for a laugh. At Baltimore's Nasdaq listing party at Annabel's nightclub in Dublin, Mr Rooney sang a high-volume, solo performance of a rewritten version of "That's Amore", pronounced "Baltimore-ay". At Baltimore's user conference last year in Orlando, Mr Rooney took to the floor of another nightclub dressed as one of the Blues Brothers.

He could always be easily spotted at any Baltimore event or at industry functions around town, consistently appearing in a trademark dark suit and collarless shirt, usually sporting a big grin and a loud laugh. He works the crowd at such events and seems to enjoy talking to everyone from ministers to big business names to new employees. He also has a predilection for getting himself into the right picture at the right time - such as when President Clinton and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, used Baltimore software to sign electronically a Government agreement in 1998.

He can be hard-headed and confrontational in meetings with management and directors, but always has been very protective of staff - a quality which many say made it hard for him to make needed jobs cuts when they were needed, or to cut as deeply or in the right places when the decision to cut was finally made.

Speaking candidly off the record, several senior technology industry figures spoke extremely highly of Mr Rooney this week. In a comment that summarises most views, one of the State's leading entrepreneurs describes him as "a charismatic and strong leader that developed Baltimore from small beginnings, and achieved a lot in an extraordinarily short amount of time".

On the down side, some felt he had become "too synonymous with the company", making core decisions without taking in the viewpoints of his top management. Also, comments in the past year to press and analysts sometimes seemed not to be properly tempered, and led to criticism.

For Baltimore employees, the loss of Mr Rooney will certainly mean the loss of the heart and soul of the company. Mr Rooney is Baltimore in the same way that Mr Steve Jobs is Apple Computer. Apple managed to survive - just - until the self-willed Mr Jobs returned to the roost years later. Whether Baltimore can show the same longevity in the absence of its key personality is a serious question.