Ben Dunne | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bernard Dunne (1949-03-11)11 March 1949 Cork, Ireland |
| Died | 18 November 2023(2023-11-18) (aged 74) Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Spouse | Mary[1] |
| Children | 4[2] |
| Father | Ben Dunne |
| Relatives | Margaret Heffernan (sister) |
Bernard Dunne (11 March 1949 – 18 November 2023) was an Irish businessman. Director of his family firm,Dunnes Stores, one of the largest chains ofdepartment stores in Ireland, he then owned a chain of fitness centres calledBen Dunne Gyms.
Ben Dunne was born inCork on 11 March 1949,[3] to Nora Maloney andBen Dunne, a businessman who foundedDunnes Stores. He was the youngest of six children. Together with his family, he lived at Browningstown Park on the Douglas Road andRingmahon House on theMahon peninsula.[4][5]
Dunne worked for Dunnes Stores, which had been founded by his father, from a young age. He rose to become director of the company, until he was ousted by his family members following controversy in 1992.[6]
On the morning of Friday 16 October 1981, Dunne was on his way to open a new supermarket inPortadown,County Armagh when he was kidnapped by theIRA. Dunne was driving northwards when a car coming in the opposite direction overtook a lorry and blocked the lorry's path. The lorry stopped, and Dunne swerved and avoided a collision. Believing an accident had occurred, Dunne stopped and got out of his car to help. The other car reversed towards him, and four men, armed with at least one rifle, got out, surrounded Dunne, put him into the car, and left the scene.[7][8] Dunne was held for seven days. He was released unharmed in a graveyard inCullyhanna, County Armagh after his friend and fellow businessman,Patrick Gallagher, paid his £1 million ransom.[9] He initially hid in an open grave, but then, fearing his kidnappers might return and shoot him and fill in the grave, he climbed back out.[10][11][12]
In 1992, Dunne was arrested forcocaine possession andsoliciting while on a golf holiday inFlorida.[13] He was arrested by police after allegedly being found in a hotel room with drugs and a prostitute.[14] His arrest triggered the end of his leadership of Dunnes Stores, as family turmoil led to control falling to his sisterMargaret Heffernan and the company paying IR£100 million for Ben Dunne's share of the business.[citation needed]
Dunne was again embroiled in scandal in the mid-1990s when it emerged he had given large amounts of money to a number of Irish politicians, mainly from theFianna Fáil party including the thenTaoiseach,Charles Haughey. He also gave money toMichael Lowry ofFine Gael. Mr JusticeBrian McCracken, sole member of TheMcCracken Tribunal which was established by theIrish Government in 1997, found that Dunne had knowingly assisted Lowry in evading his tax obligations.[15] The Tribunal said Dunne and Haughey had a "strange and complex" relationship, with Dunne having made at least five payments in the period of November 1987 to December 1991 to Haughey which totalled to 1.3 million Irish pounds.[16]
On 22 March 2011, theMoriarty Tribunal concluded of Ben Dunne's dealings with Michael Lowry that "What was contemplated and attempted on the part of Mr. Dunne and Mr. Lowry was profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short of breathtaking"; the report referring to its finding that Lowry sought to influence a rent review of a building part-owned by Dunne.[17]
Dunne went on to run a chain of fitness centres calledBen Dunne Gyms, located in Dublin and Liverpool.[18] He personally promoted the gyms on radio, using recent Irish advertising legislation which allows direct comparisons to named competitors. Dunne was working on a new health club, to open inDún Laoghaire inDublin, but abandoned the project due to complaints from local residents.[19]
In April 2005, Dunne paid £3,000,000 for a 21-acre (85,000 m2) site inMotspur Park, New Malden (South London), former home of BBC Football Club and otherBBC sports facilities. His intent was to apply for planning permission to build a leisure and fitness centre, but he did not do so. Instead, in February 2008, his company Barkisland Developments Limited submitted a planning application to the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Council for change of use of the sports ground to a cemetery.[20] The application to change the former BBC Sports Ground into a cemetery was withdrawn on 3 October 2008. It had become clear that planning permission was likely to be refused. Objections were lodged by many local residents, sports clubs, Sport England and the Mayor of London.[21]
In 2009, Dunne established an online marketplace, BenDunne.com, competing with Buy and Sell,DoneDeal and Adverts.ie. Following its soft opening, the new website was affected by glitches and was unable to handle sufficient traffic without going down. Its official launch was cancelled and the website was taken offline to address the problems. It was relaunched in 2010 but failed within a year. Dunne admitted that "The internet is one of my failures. I can't work it out. I can't get people to advertise on BenDunne.com for nothing and I can't get them to pay €3."[22][23][24]
Ben Dunne was married to Mary, and the couple had a daughter and three sons.[6]
Dunne died inDubai on 18 November 2023, at the age of 74,[3] of a heart attack.[6]