Dermot Pierce, FRICS, who died on June 4th, aged 52, was a chartered surveyor and property development consultant. The many projects on which he worked included the creation and development of Earlsfort Centre - which incorporates the Conrad International Hotel - and East Point.
Born in Dublin on February 25th, 1947, he was the third child of Felix and Molly Pierce. His father was proprietor of the well-known victuallers on Marino Mart in Fairview. Growing up on the leafy Castle Avenue in Clontarf, he attended St John the Baptist National School, better known as Belgrove. Later, he entered St Paul's College.
A natural athlete, he distinguished himself on both the rugby pitch and the athletics track. Later, at Clontarf Cricket and Rugby Club, he became a regular on the left wing for the 1st XV.
He was very clear-sighted about his future career. He studied chartered surveying at Bolton Street Technical College and received his associate membership (ARICS) of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and, subsequently, his fellowship.
Embarking on his career as a valuation surveyor with Donal O Buachalla & Co, he joined other young valuers like the late Ray Ward, former chairman of Lisney, and Eoin O Buachalla who became lifelong friends.
Broadening his experience was important to him and he moved to other property firms such as Murphy Buckley & Keogh, Anderson Hall and Battersby before being appointed managing director of Abbey Properties, the commercial development subsidiary of Abbey plc, in 1977.
While at Abbey he was responsible for such developments as Franklin House, Ballsbridge, and offices and apartments on Haddington Road.
However, he left Abbey in 1984 to create a £50 million office, hotel, apart-hotel and apartment complex based on a site built around the former Alexandra School.
The site was assembled by the late Gallagher brothers, Patrick, James (former TD for Sligo-Leitrim) and Hubert. It lay fallow for many years until, in 1984, Dermot Pierce devised a plan for its development. In association with the architect, Paul Burke-Kennedy, and his firm, Burke-Kennedy Doyle & Partners, he developed the Earlsfort Centre in phases with the Conrad International Hotel opening in October, 1989.
Before completing the Earlsfort Centre he cast about for his next project eventually settling on a site on East Wall Road that, originally, had been intended as a STOLPORT (Short Take-Off and Landing Airport). In collaboration with the architect, Ronnie Tallon, of Scott Tallon Walker, and main contractor, Ged Pierse of Pierse Contracting, he pieced together a plan to create a working environment for the new "high tech" industries. Drawing inspiration from business parks in the UK, Europe and the United States, East Point has become a tranquil, waterside, treelined workplace for international firms such as Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Quintiles, Kindle Banking Systems and Lufthansa. Phase II of East Point continues on adjoining land in partnership with Dublin Port.
Dermot Pierce was determined that every development he was associated with would adhere to the highest standards of quality and excellence. In an address to the Society of Chartered Surveyors in Ireland in November, 1996, he said: " . . .quality in design and construction is vital to the success of any property development - and success is measured not just by profit but also in terms of the contribution which the completed development makes to its environment."
When accepting the inaugural Client of the Year Award from the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland in the same month, he said: "We property developers have a responsibility to the community. What we construct lasts for generations. Therefore, we are duty-bound to ensure that our sons and daughters - and their progeny - are not saddled with ugly, depressing and substandard structures which detract from rather than enhance their surroundings."
In 1998, he established his property development consultancy, Dermot Pierce & Associates.
He worked at a punishing pace but was careful to take regular breaks with his family. Family holidays were spent at their cottage in Brittany where he made many friends and struggled with the French language.
Outside of work, his passions included golf, bridge and opera. He was a member of both Woodbrook and Royal Dublin golf clubs. In 1997, he was captain of Woodbrook Golf Club and, when his term of captaincy had ended, he arranged for ten "Cedrus" trees to be planted on the 12th fairway which enhanced the hole considerably.
He was a shrewd bridge player but never had enough time to devote to it. Opera was his great passion and, apart from regular attendance at Dublin Grand Opera Society performances, he travelled to Wexford, Vienna, Verona and London to pursue great music.
He was chairman of the Season Control Group and a director of Earlsfort Centre (Developments), Earlsfort East Point Limited and the Conrad International Hotel.
Dermot Pierce married Joan (nee Hanley) in 1972 and they had three children - sons Killian and Gavin and daughter Melissa.
Dermot Pierce: born 1947; died 1999.