The Dunner does a runner. Sean Dunne pictured with wife Gayle are off to America leaving a trail of financial destruction in the rear-view mirror as NAMA and non-NAMA banks take control of his former assets.
In a surprising move – “surprising” in light of recent upbeat optimism – a consortium of banks which had provided the funding to Sean Dunne for his “Knightsbridge in Dublin 4” development dream, have pulled the plug and appointed the Dalata Hotel Group to manage Sean Dunne’s hotels in Ballsbridge. The hotels and some apartments, sit on a 7-acre site assembled by Sean in the early 2000s – detailed here – with the aim of developing upmarket apartment, retail and office space. Permission was finally granted for a scheme last September 2011, but with the property market on the floor, Sean had then projected that any development would be at least five years away.
As exclusively reported on here, NAMA is pursuing Sean though Dublin’s High Court, seeking orders on personal guarantees which Sean last week disclosed amounted to €184m in NAMA’s case. Last week Sean added that he would not contest NAMA’s action as long as his accountant verified the claim. The case, reference 2011/5119S seems not to have progressed in the past fortnight and there is still no legal representation for Sean recorded at the Courts Service. In addition to €184m in personal guarantees reportedly owing to NAMA, Sean has conceded that a further €225m is owing in personal guarantees to non-NAMA banks.
The past year has seen a sharp public turnaround in Sean Dunne’s fortunes in Ireland. In the earlier part of the year, the word on the street was that Sean Mulryan and Sean Dunne were two of NAMA’s most favoured developers. In March 2011, the Irish Sunday Times (not available online without a subscription) reported that NAMA was sending in receivers to Sean Dunne’s companies. Sean’s spokesman subsequently denied the story. But in July 2011, NAMA did in fact appoint property receivers to several of Sean’s properties. Separately, in a nasty little legal dispute with a former cleaner, Sean was seen to have scored a Pyrrhic victory in winning the case but being awarded a modest sum – the court case and judgment are detailed here “Baron Hardup, Widow Twankey and a feather duster : the Sean Dunne/Gina Farrell pantomime (with Buttons played by NAMA)”. In October 2011, severe flooding across Dublin resulted in damage to Sean’s hotels in Ballsbridge which have just now been repaired at a reported cost of €4m. Just before Christmas, he told reporters that he and his family were emigrating toAmerica, where they have been living for more than a year. And then NAMA sued him.
Life in America has already seen its share of drama – detailed here – for the Dunnes from renting an opulent mansion in Connecticut, upsetting the neighbours in Belle Haven when Sean sought to redevelop a residential property and then there was wife Gayle’s lawsuit against their American lawyer for the return of USD 500,000. Word is that the Dunnes continue to explore property investment and development opportunities in the US, but there has been no word of any specific deal of late.
So farewell then Sean and Gayle. But for all the self-satisfaction that will be felt in some parts of Ireland, remember this was once a very successful developer, who correctly identified a need for upmarket apartments in central Dublin– try finding a 2,000 sq ft apartment in the city centre and you’ll soon see the gap in the market. The dream of Knightsbridge inDublin4 had flashes of flair and chutzpah oftentimes missing in Ireland. And at age 57, Sean still has a good few years left in him, older and wiser after what has turned out to be a disastrous property gamble in Dublin 4 on which he lost a substantial amount of his own equity. The man himself isn’t reserved in telling you how much employment and income he has created in his lifetime here. In some ways, it’s a lesser place with his absence, despite the trail of financial destruction which the once golden couple has left behind.
(Graphic above produced by Japlandic.com, contact here)
UPDATE: 8th March, 2012. Almost as a footnote to the above, it is reported by the eagle-eyed Mary Carolan in the Irish Times today that Sean Dunne’s legal representative has indicated to the court that Sean is to consent to the judgment orders in favour of NAMA which apparently total €184.2m; I say “eagle-eyed” because the matter was referred to yesterday at the High Court despite not being listed. The matter is set to be formalised next Monday, and that is that, though it will be interesting to see how NAMA proceed from here. Will it seek to make Sean Dunne bankrupt or go after assets that might be held by Sean’s wife?
NAMA Wine Lake 
You can have him back anytime,best he can hope for is an 80:20 split.
The ongoing litigation will deter most potential funding sources,contingent liabilities for key man not a good look,not matter how charming the misses is.
Needs to file BK,too many skeletons at present waiting to go boo,in the middle of the night.GE Capital are just up the road,most likely he will havevto utilise second tier funding sources.Word was its the misses that’s in the development,home renovation game these days.
Interesting visa,a bit long in the tooth for J1,maybe Gayle got one.
There will be 70,000 people “doing a runner” from Ireland this year…… in a totally unnecessary sacrifice. The place has no rational leadership. Just spin, smoke and mirrors. Not much longer now though,,, even the worm turns.
He’s renovating and old house in Connecticut, not exactly masters of the universe stuff.Is he meeting the brickie or leaky the plumber tomorrow.Employing a few fellas trying make a few bob.
Good for him.
For your viewing pleasure.
Has anyone tested the validity of those personal guarantees for limited company loans. Seems to be going outside the four corners of an agreement. The loan isn’t to the person. Nor can it be said that it’s for the direct benefit of that person. Further it cannot be said that the bank didn’t know any of this before entering into the contract with the company.
Do we get people dropping a tenner on a fistful of ultra junior members of the kings inns setting them of on a por bono publico case. You never know what a beating of the long grass might flush out.
A fair number of plaintiffs have now obtained judgments against individual developers. The Commercial Court is generally finding the guarantees to be valid. If there is any doubt the cases would just go to trial. You can see the summary applications in the legal diary & the resulting judgments are mostly registered for publication (see Experian or Stubbs).
Interesting Article by Michael O Flynn in todays times,Fair play to the man
Day one at law school, they say it all starts at First principals. One would have question if a genuine agreement was made when i signed a personal guarantee. I personally was told it would never be relied on, and now 6 years later I am told it may be relied on . Going back to first principals there was never an intention to create legal relations. A foundation of a contract, Secondly has anyone tested the statute of limitations of a personal guarantee ??
I met this arrogant ego freak in Searson’s of Baggot Street. Warned him that the signs of a melt down were written on the wall.
Fool told me to “Keep talking into my pint”. Well Sean you fat muppet, Guess who’s laughing at you now, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha !
Bloody eejit ya!
@V he has not changed,if that what you hope.Settling in I’m sure rite now for big football game.Snow on the grounds of the mansion,fire burning,Gale providing lighthearted commentary and snacks,the NY team Giants about to kick off in “semi” of Super Bowl.He well actually Gayle is now in the home renovation/remodeling business,the pickings are slim,unlikely any profit will make much of a dent in his Irish debts.
@ATD no Irish developer will ever sign personally again,if half the shenanigans revealed by The Greek against AIB are remotely true it was the wild west of lending,no rules or regulations adhered to.
@ATD, That was Anglo’s mantra to all their borrowers “We will never call on your PG.” “We have never called a PG” “It is just to make sure that you won’t walk away if you hit a problem” etc. All of the above and more. The same verbal promises were even made in front of some of the borrowers’ lawyers. There is other evidence showing that Anglo did not rely on personal guarantees, even though they asked for them to be signed. It may eventually all come out in court.
The two most senior guards from the fraud squad,in charge of the investigation,took early retirement,the state could have refused,as they were key employees.Looks like it will fall to Sean Quinn via the courts to shine some light on a lot of this.
@jg, I would suggest to Sean that he should obtain the files that were presented to the credit committee and ascertain if it contained any reference to personal guarantees – or whether they were being relied on.
@WSTT what I can’t understand is that if they can prove fraud or criminal acts,prosecute.It also strengthens the negotiating position regarding Anglo bonds,promissory notes.
The Anglo bond payment will be bigger than anything recovered by NAMA,reviewing tax returns,hiring private dicks,etc.More nonsense about Quinlans lifestyle to distract from paying the bond,probably a perp walk in next day or two.
@jg, Sean Quinn will find that his Anglo credit committee applications excluded reliance on personal guarantees. As did almost all the applications.
@WSTT the IT had to make an apology last week to the family,a bit of a trilla on here,extra time versus San Fran,big game.Dunner may be hosting a super bowl party…
@WSTT when are you doing your own runner,you must be sick of the place by now.The begrudreggy,gratuitous kicks when the man is down,use of antiquated bankruptcy laws in scraps with borrowers.To think,I almost moved back !
@jg, Probably foolishly, I keep reminding myself that there is a “once in a generation” opportunity going to present itself when NAMA and the UK based banks start selling. It will be all about who can raise the cash. Where will Bank Mellon find a new home? Who will redevelop the old Bank of Ireland headquarters for Facebook? They are relevant questions, because there aren’t many still standing and the US and German Funds only want the income producing cherries. Take the two investments that were sold last year (Warrington Place and Riverside Two) – there was a €10 million plus gap to the second bidder on the former and only one real bidder for the latter. The market is a bit like the ice on the Central Park ponds- very thin.
Maybe I’m too much of an optimist, and the once in a lifetime opportunity has past. I’m referring to those who sold. The music stopped and I missed the chair. But, hey… I love the Big Lemon! 2012 will tell a tale.
What was it Kipling wrote:
“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same………
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!”
We’ll see …..but along with 70,000 others this year, there is a Plan B. As you rightly say, there’s only so much of this crap you can take.