The high-rise of the Ronan empire

Johnny Ronan has a multi-storey vision for the future of Dublin’s docklands – even if not everyone is happy about it. Here, in an exclusive interview, he expounds on his plans to transform the capital city’s centre

Johnny Ronan: the property developer has ambitious plans for Dublin before he moves onto London Picture: Tony Gavin

Johnny Ronan knows that people are talking about him behind his back. In fact, he’s quite bullish about it. That’s probably because he also knows that the people who really know him tend to think twice before talking behind his back.

It’s surprising, because the people who populate Ireland’s property scene typically like to talk and share gossip and a lot of them talk to Ronan. But when it comes to talking about him, it’s ...