The Image Of Success

Businessman Denis O'Brien made a fortune in the mobile phone business. Digicel's success paid for this home in Dublin 4, a 7800 sq ft work of art that was designed by Stanislaus Orpen. When Mr. O'Brien purchased the 1904 Arts and Crafts confection, he paid EU27 million, so clearly this would have to be the home of a wealthy man. All the world could view this magnificent facade and declare unanimously that Denis O'Brien, the man from Cork, made his way in the world and reached the top.

Mr. O'Brien, however, does not see things that way. He doesn't need a historically significant work of art as far as he is concerned. He needs a mansion of modern size and scope. He needs 22,000 square feet of roaring mass on the Shrewsbury Road. He wants to tear down this beauty and put up his own personal monument to financial success.

Needless to say, An Bord Pleanala has turned down his request. Sorry that this particular structure fails to meet the grade of modern layout, building regulations and energy ratings. Pity that it is not up to the "lifestyle and living standard requirements of persons likely to seek residence" in Dublin 4. The city council feels that what is there fits with what is also there, and an overblown mansion would not blend smoothly into the existing landscape.

As much as Mr. O'Brien would like to believe that this gem does not contribute to the streetscape, a modern behemoth hulking massively over its neighbors would be an eyesore to all those around him. Not that he much cares about them, it would seem, since he is arguing that they are wrong and he should be allowed to erect a stately edifice, to let Dublin 4 know that he has arrived.

There was a time when self-made men felt that they were beholden to the country that made them, and so they funded art museums and symphonies and opera companies to serve as monuments to their success. What is today's legacy of the entrepreneur?