Wednesday 7 January 2009

Irish developer Seán Dunne clarifies New York Times interview report

Irish developer Seán Dunne today clarified remarks attributed to him in the New York Times. The paper quoted him in a report on the Irish economy in its Sunday edition, as saying that, if the banking crisis continued, "I could be considered insolvent."

In a statement today, Dunne's office said the developer had been misquoted. It said the quote given to the newspaper was:"With countries, banks in almost every country and legends of the banking world for over 100 years going bust in the current credit crunch, I would not bet against myself or anybody else being taken out. However, if it does happen, I would like to think that my conservative gearing prior to the credit crunch and the location and quality of my assets present as good a buffer as is possible."

Dunne's office also said the interview did not take place at 3am in Doheny & Nesbitt's pub in Dublin, but for 12 hours over two days. The New York Times did not claim that the interview was only conducted in the pub.

The article on the Irish economy, focused on Dunne's plans for the hotel sites in Ballsbridge in Dublin which he purchased for €379m in 2005.

www.buckplanning.ie

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