A Kazakh tower, offshore trusts and a disputed €8m

From alleged meetings in the Red Cow Inn off the M50 in Dublin to a 380-metre tower in the Kazakh capital of Astana, this is the inside story of how two leading businessmen, once friends, ended up embroiled in a bitter High Court battle

Jerry Ryan: “I considered that I needed the assistance of a friend who could assist in running the business”

Jerry Ryan was one of Ireland’s most high-profile architects during the boom. Now he has become embroiled in a complex legal battle with businessman Barry English. It is a dispute that stretches from alleged meetings in the Red Cow Inn off the M50 in Dublin to a 380-metre tower in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan.

At stake are millions of euro that Ryan claims have been taken from him by English. The ...