‘He would charm the birds from the trees’

THIRTEEN years at the helm of Apple Cork meant that Dan Byrne, its former chief executive, met Steve Jobs on several occasions.

“I would have met him in Cork and in California and I was very saddened to hear of his death.

“He was extremely demanding, clearly a genius but he was very charismatic and a visionary. He was pernickety too. He would get into the minutest detail about the industrial design of products. But he could be very charming when trying to win business. He’d charm the birds from the trees.”