Longboat Quay: Pillar of the establishment brought low

Unlike Tom McFeeley, who developed Priory Hall, Bernard McNamara was a pillar of the establishment.

From Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare, Mr McNamara served two terms as a Fianna Fáil county councillor and ran unsuccessfully for the Dáil in the 1981 general election, before concentrating on the construction business left him by his father, Michael.

He moved to Dublin in the 1990s as the economy was taking off. By 2000, he was living in what was described as a palatial residence on Aislesbury Rd, which previously housed the Japanese ambassador. Soon after, he bought the property next door and expanded his home.