An eye for what will do well

IT is just over two years since Liam Carroll emerged as the holder of almost 15% of Dunloe Ewart, the listed property company controlled by the high profile solicitor and former Ben Dunne advisor, Noel Smyth.

While Smyth, Dunloe Ewart's Chairman, is at home in the panelled boardrooms of Dublin 2, Carroll is happiest moving around his many sites in sweater and wellies.

Over the past dozen years, Carroll, through his corporate vehicle, Zoe Developments, emerged as the king of the Dublin apartment building scene. Zoe's early generation shoe box apartments with their tacky balconies spread across the city like a virus. Critics predicted that their resale prices would crash, but they had reckoned without the property boom and without Carroll's skill when it comes to site selection.