From outside chance to a forerunner
BEFORE his 2004 marriage to the former gossip columnist Gayle Killilea in Thailand, the name Seán Dunne was not widely known around Ireland.
The Carlow-born builder would have been better known in banking and construction circles, and doubtless among the regulars enjoying the annual jaunt in the infamous Fianna Fáil tent at the Galway Races.
Indeed, it was while he was at the Galway Races in 2002 that he met his future wife.
But even then he was nowhere near the household name he has become since the wedding. Their legendary reception received considerable media attention as it later emerged it was held aboard the Christina O, Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis’s private yacht.
It also later emerged the happy couple were congratulated by phone by one of Mr Dunne’s personal friends, Bertie Ahern.
Such was their closeness, the couple were present two years later at both the Houses of Parliament in London and on Capitol Hill in Washington DC for Ahern’s addresses.
And an insight into his relationship with Gayle – with whom he has three children – was illustrated by the story that when he was considering what price to bid for the Jurys site in 2005, he turned to his wife and asked her. According to Ireland on Sunday in May 2006, he was relaxing with her in Thailand and – at the time – the deadline for the Jurys bid was fast approaching.
Without telling her why, he asked her to pick a number between €253m and €275m.
She went for the higher figure, later explaining that she was born in 1975 and considered 75 a lucky number. A year after the 2008 crash, he told The International Herald Tribune: ‘The Celtic Tiger may be dead and if the banking crisis continues I could be considered insolvent. But the one thing I have is my wife and children – they can’t take that away from me.’
The Dunnes soon moved to America, living in Greenwich, Connecticut, renting a mansion costing more than $17,000 a month.
Nama has accused Mr Dunne of passing property worth millions to Gayle, which he denies.