'Ben Dunne led a life less ordinary': Tributes paid to controversial businessman

One of Ireland’s most prominent businessmen for decades, best known in recent years for his chain of gyms around the country, he was also well known for playing a key role in the expansion of the Dunnes Stores empire as well as for payments to former Taoiseach Charles Haughey and former Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry.

Tributes were paid to him by figures including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.

The Taoiseach described him as a “pioneer”, who lived a “life less ordinary”.

“I was deeply saddened to hear that Ben Dunne has died,” Mr Varadkar said. "A constituent of mine in Castleknock and a local employer, I met Ben many times. He really was larger than life.

"Among other things, he pioneered the fitness industry in Ireland first with Westpoint and then Ben Dunne Gyms. 

He led a life less ordinary and in turn he made some mistakes in life. The best people do. He never allowed that to defeat him or hold him back. 

"He touched the lives of tens of thousands who will mourn his loss."

In a post on Twitter/X, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said: “Very sad to hear of the sudden death of Ben Dunne. My thoughts are with his beloved family. 

"He was a good man who cared about people. We will never see his likes again. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.”

Born in Cork in March 1949, Mr Dunne was the youngest of six children who grew up at Ringmahon House, which had previously been owned by the Murphy's brewery family. His father, Ben Snr, had founded Dunnes Stores after departing Roche's and opened the family's first store on Patrick Street in March 1944.

Veteran Cork photographer Billy MacGill, who was five years ahead of Ben Jnr at Presentation Brothers College in Cork, said that “everybody was larger than life in those days” and out to get one up on the other businesses vying for custom. Ben was “always jolly”, he said.

IRA kidnap

Initially working in the family business, he began to hit the headlines in dramatic fashion starting with his kidnap by the IRA in 1981.

While on a trip to a Dunnes Stores outlet, he was captured by members of the Provisional IRA for seven days. 

After the payment of a ransom, he was released.

It was never disclosed how much was handed over to the IRA for the safe return of Mr Dunne, but it was believed to be in the region of €1m.

After the death of his father in 1983 following a heart attack at the age of 76, Mr Dunne took on a leadership role at the company.

Florida controversy

Controversy followed again in the 1990s, with Mr Dunne sparking a media frenzy after being arrested for cocaine possession and soliciting while on a golf trip to Florida in 1992.

The incident caused a rift in the family and led to his ousting from the Dunnes Stores supermarket empire.

Payments scandal

But the incident which precipitated his departure from Dunnes Stores would have far-reaching political implications, as it led to the unearthing of documents showing his payments to politicians.

This scandal came to the fore after it emerged, after reporting from the journalist Sam Smyth, he had given sums of money to politicians, which it would turn out to include the former Taoiseach Mr Haughey and led to over a decade of scandal at the top of Irish political life.

New beginning

In more recent years, he expanded into new businesses including the successful chain of fitness centres, lending his own voice to the very recognisable radio adverts promoting them. His gyms made a healthy operating profit of €3m last year.

Mr Dunne is survived by his wife Mary and four children.

In a social media post, his son Robert said: “I’m going to miss him in a way I can’t even describe in words.

My dad is dead. He had a massive heart attack and just didn’t make it. Simple as that. Overall, in the final analysis, he was a good and decent man.  

Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week programme, journalist Sam Smyth compared the Dunne family's fame and fortune at the time to that of the Trump family in the US in the 1980s and 1990s. 

He also spoke about Mr Dunne's honesty in describing his failings after events in Florida.

Mr Smyth, who wrote a book about Ben Dunne, Thanks a Million Big Fella, described him as the most famous man in the country at the time.

“He was a very interesting man insofar as he could’ve been portrayed as a villain,” he said. 

All of that changed and I think the perception of him changed when he did that no-holds-barred interview when he apologised for everything to his family.  

Speaking on the Anton Savage Show on Newstalk, broadcaster Matt Cooper said the kidnap by the IRA “impacted enormously on his life” and possibly led to him suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“He was an alpha-male type,” he said. "He was a real sort of a lad [...] He was entertaining. He gave good copy.

“That’s why large sections of the media kept returning to him.” 

Mr Cooper also described him as an earlier version of Michael O’Leary, and said his father was a forceful personality who pushed the low-cost message that his son then adopted.

Leslie Buckley, former chair of INM and founder of the Haven Community Foundation charity, recalled that Mr Dunne had appeared in a panel discussion at one of his charity events which was chaired by George Hook. 

"All ex-Pres[entation Brothers College] men," he said. "I can recall him being very humorous and open about his days in Pres. I also found him a person who very easy to get on with. A very nice guy."