The road to success leads to Killiney Hill

Scotters and organic juices have been David Quirke's road to success thus far. An entrepreneur with a keen marketing sense, his instinct for new trends and capacity to create a buzz around new ventures has made David one of the most sought-after publicity geniuses in town.

David and his wife Emma live with two-year-old Charles in a pretty converted cottage on the eastern slopes of Killiney hill. They are looking forward to the arrival of their second child in August. As befits one of the co-owners of the trendy Skooter shop on Burgh Quay, David rides to work each day on a neat Piaggio 180, zooming merrily past motorists stuck in rush-hour traffic jams.

Also co-owner of Nude juice bars, David divides his time between the two businesses, occasionally working from an office at home. The chic scooter shop in the quays was a runaway success.

"All people talk about these days in the traffic. I heard about a bunch of guys opening a scooter shop and joined them as a consultant, saying I'd put the concept on the map. When we opened the store, people came in and browsed like it was a pharmacy. I wanted to educate people that this is the way I live my life.

"Now designers and pop stare have scooters and suddenly its become OK. Famous designers and artists and a load of DJs are seen about town on them. I can leave work in the evening at 5:30 p.m. and be here by 6:20 p.m. I can even take phone calls on the bike with a hands-free set."

The two-bedroom cottage stands out from the others in the row with its smart terracotta exterior. When David and Emma acquired the house in 1997, they employed architect Colm Duggan to re-arrange and extend the interior to suit their growing family.

The original livingroom was changed to a guest bedroom and downstairs bathroom and Charles' bedroom and a study is also in this level. Upstairs, the new sittingroom off the cream-painted kitchen opens onto a huge deck which curves around the roof.

The look is uncompromisingly modern, with natural wood floors and bright primary colours adding a warm touch. A large angel figure perched on top of the kitchen cupboards - found in Christy Bird's Portobello shop - has been with the couple since they first met. The strategically positioned porthole window in the sittingroom sends long shafts of morning light through to the dining-table.

The deck is large enough to hold a sizable party and furnished with a number of unusual objects, including a Hindu statue from Indonesia. Sloping land at the back of the house was levelled and landscaped, with raised flower beds bordering a wide deck area. From this vantage point, you can see from Howth to Bray Head.

With Charlie still a toddler and another baby on the way, Emma and David have not become nightly regulars in the pub at the end of the lane. Some neighbours have lived on the road for generations. "We're the new kids on the block here," says David. "We do play loud music sometimes but we get on well with the neighbours. I ran a raffle in the pub and we raised a lot of money for charity.

"Before we moved here, we lived in a marvellous Regency villa in Blackrock which was split into apartments, with 27 ft rooms and ceilings 18 ft tall. We sold it because the market was going up and we were about to have a child. Emma was a hostess with Ryanair and got interested in interior design when we got married. She decided on all the colour schemes in the house. Killiney is a real neutral space, nobody gets excited about who's living next door."

David began his career taking photographs in shopping centres. "It was very successful and I made a lot of money doing it, but it was not the most fulfilling of jobs. I blew every penny of it," he says.

He got the idea for the Nude chain when he worked in the US. "I saw people opening up these juice bars with the most unbelievable ingredients. I had a couple of glasses and was hooked. Back home, people thought it was "a bit LA."

Then I met Norman Hewson and we set up Nude - it was a phenomenal success. We decided to use GMO-free ingredients - GMO's are a product of greed and people are being exploited."

"Nude has been open for two years in August and Skooter will soon be a year old, so my services are no longer needed. I've the germ of an idea for my next project - setting up a business club. I believe there are people in businesses who have passion, but they need to be heard."

"Out of all my friends, I'm the only one who stayed in Ireland and they're all highly successful. Now they're coming back, so there'll be an influx of people with vision."