How credit crunch killed off Dunne’s D4 dream

Visionary or misguided, the €1.5bn plans for Ballsbridge are dead in the water, writes Seán McCárthaigh.

THE fate that has befallen property developer Seán Dunne with yesterday’s refusal by An Bord Pleanála to grant planning permission for his €1.5 billion development for the Jury’s Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge perfectly encapsulates the sharp reversal in the fortunes of the Irish economy in recent months.

Dunne — the 54-year-old poster boy for the property industry during the Celtic Tiger boom — is facing an uncertain future as he contemplates how rapidly the business landscape has changed from the one that existed just 12 months ago.