The story of “fallen tycoon” Brian O’Donnell, the differences between bankruptcy in the UK and Ireland and an £11 million mansion
In these straightened times, the media in general and the Daily Mail in particular quickly latch on to stories about benefit scroungers living in luxury homes. They’re less quick, however, with the exception of the case of Grant Bovey (“Mr Anthea Turner”), to make reference to stories of bankrupt individuals remaining in multi-million pound mansions.
Brian O’Donnell with his wife Dr Mary “Pat” Patricia O’Donnell
A most newsworthy example, though, has to be that of Irish property investor Brian O’Donnell and his psychiatrist wife Dr Mary Patricia “Pat” O’Donnell. Mr O’Donnell, who bought the Sanctuary Buildings in London for £170 million and paid $172.5 million for a 199,000 square foot property on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington in 2008, started his career as a solicitor and eventually founded his own firm, Brian O’Donnell & Partners, in 1999. In time, he and his wife diversified into property investment and at the height of his success, Mr O’Donnell was described as “the Celtic Tiger poster child”. With the recession, however, came problems and by 2011, they owed Morgan Stanley €457 million, Aareal €235 million, and the Bank of Ireland circa €75 million.
Images of Rolls-Royce’s latest model, the Wraith, are leaked ahead of its Geneva debut
When someone “incurs your wrath”, they make you angry but with the addition of an ‘I’ the word comes to be a Scottish dialectal word for “ghost” or “spirit”.
Today, 5th March 2013, Rolls-Royce launch their latest model, an elegant fastback based on the Rolls-Royce Ghost. Named the Wraith, the car was to be unveiled this morning at the Geneva International Motor Show but pictures were leaked onto the Internet late last night and we reveal them for you here.
The 2013 Rolls-Royce WraithThe front of the WraithThe interior of the WraithThe car’s roof lining features Starlight Headliner technology to give the feel of a starlit night
The stylish Wraith is the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever with a delivery that is said to be “effortless, but dramatic”, thanks to a 6.7 litre V12 engine and 8-speed automatic ZF transmission. A phenomenal 624 bhp / 465kW is available to the driver while the 0-60 mph can be achieved in just 4.4 seconds, compared with the Ghost’s 4.7 seconds.
With a stiffened suspension, the Wraith is said to be “distinctly on the sport[s] side” and a “Rolls-Royce to drive, not be driven in”. Of it, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, suggested:
“[The Wraith coupé] has a hint of menace in the design that is new to the brand, but with the driving experience and performance to live up to that promise”.
As is to be expected from this iconic brand, styling, finish and attention to detail have also been given utmost consideration during the Wraith’s development. The interior of this four seat vehicle, for example, features Starlight Headliner technology which consists of 1,340 fibre optic lamps hand-woven into the roof lining to give the impression of a glittering, starry night sky.
In his statement about the Wraith, Müller-Ötvös concluded:
“Today we launch the ultimate gentlemen’s gran turismo, a car that embodies the spirit of Charles Stewart Rolls… The most powerful Rolls-Royce in history, Wraith promises the sense of adventure and speed that drove our founding forefather. But of course, Wraith’s starting point is luxury, refinement and quality, traits that remain as important to Rolls-Royce customers today as they were more than a century ago”.
First deliveries of the Wraith will be made in the final quarter of 2013 and prices are expected to start at around £225,000.
Rolls-Royce may feel a little peeved that images of the Wraith have bolted from the stable a little early but, instead, we would suggest, they should be extremely proud of what they have let loose. Wraith not wrath is what is required.
An evening of fondue at Bodo’s Schloss in Kensington
Bodo’s Schloss, a restaurant, bar and disco reminiscent of an Austrian alpine lodge, opened late last year and became an instant hit with the Chelsea set. For them and personalities such as Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow, in fact, it’s rather like a little slice of Lech and Zürs has come to London.
A singer, actress and composer who has been a star all her life. Brought up in Epsom, Surrey and best known for Downtown, Petula Clark surprisingly made her radio debut aged just 9 and appeared at the Royal Albert Hall when she was only 11. She now lives between Switzerland and Chelsea and can occasionally be spotted at La Brasserie in Brompton Cross. A lady of simple tastes, Clark modestly states: “The stretch limo with the blackout windows and the bodyguards are fun, but I prefer going out alone with just my bus fare in my pocket and catching a number 19 bus. The scenery’s the same whatever form of transport you’re using”. A Facebook page was created in 2012 as part of a campaign to make this legend a Dame. We back it with enthusiasm.
The 2012/2013 shooting season may well be over, but one of Italy’s finest automotive design houses, Bertone, are about to showcase a shooting brake they have created to coincide with Aston Martin’s centenary and their having worked with the English brand for 60 years at the 2013 Geneva International Motor Show.
Thomas James examines the Luzinterruptus art movement
Luzinterruptus is a Spanish artistic group, who create temporary urban interventions in public spaces. Using light as their primary component and the black of night as their canvas, the group consists of three anonymous artists from different artistic backgrounds. Interestingly, the artistic group’s name Luzinterruptus is of Latin origin and means: “Interrupted light.”
The group’s first artistic “urban intervention” took place on the streets of Madrid in 2008. The motive for it was to focus peoples’ attention on a problem they found in the city that seemed to go unnoticed. Some 50% of Madrid’s public drinking fountains have fallen into disrepair and Luzinterruptus wanted to address the city’s administration’s indifference to the need for public drinking water. With their installation, “Drinking Water Running Through The Streets,” they sought to provoke thought and highlight the issue.
Drinking Water Running Through The Streets
To create it, 200 glass containers were collected over the course of 4 months and these were used to fill four fountains with their signature luminous work. The installation lit up the city on a cold night in January and attracted great media interest.
Plastic garbage guarding the museum
Another fascinating work by the collective was named “Plastic garbage guarding the museum.” Installed directly in front of the Gewerbemuseum Winterthurin Switzerland, this featured approximately 5,000 plastic bags. They selected the most vibrant and colourful ones from those they had collected, filled each with air and lit them from within. Piled up in a dumpster, they looked more like treasures one would find in Santa’s sleigh. The installation was designed to provoke discussion about consumption and the issue of what damage not disposing of carrier bags properly does to the environment. The plastic bags deflated and deteriorated during the four-month installation and this was said to symbolise consumption and waste, as well as highlighting the damaging effects of mindless consumption. Luzinterruptus proceeded to give visitors to the exhibit an illuminated plastic bag to take away. Their aim by doing such was to: “Fill the sk[ies] with small plasticised full moons.”
1,000 poems by mail
Luzinterruptus’s installation “1,000 poems by mail” was created for the “2010 poetas pr Km²” Spanish poetry festival in Madrid uniting light, literature, and public space. 1,000 white envelopes, each containing a small light and a poem written by one of 17 poets, were hung in the gardens where the poetry readings and performances happened. The radiant envelopes illuminated the gardens for three days and added atmosphere to the festival – especially at night. On the final evening, the envelopes were given to the public to keep or to send to someone special. Afterwards, Luzinterruptus mailed out the envelopes with their lights still burning bright.
Literature versus Traffic
This summer at the Federation Square in Melbourne, Luzinterruptus placed 10,000 illuminated books, which they acquired from local libraries, across the ground during a festival dedicated to reading. They placed LED lights behind the pages of each book to illuminate the printed words. The installation entitled “Literature versus Traffic” was created to portray a winding river going along the streets of the bustling public square. “The objective was to create a symbolic gesture in which literature took control of the streets and became the conqueror of the public space,” one the anonymous artists explained.
Look out. A Luzinterruptus exhibition could be interrupting the streets of your city soon. It’ll certainly be cleverly planned and it will definitely provoke you to think about whatever issue they decide to focus on next.
If one spent $2,000,000 on cosmetic surgery, one would expect to end up looking fantastic. It didn’t quite work out in the case of the billionairess “Bride of Wildenstein,” though, as instead she discovered the husband she thought she’d please in bed with a 19-year old Russian. Feline like in appearance, the purr of this New York socialite is said to be just as bad as her bite. She’s known to be a skilled hunter and pilot and once boasted her telephone bills were at least $60,000 a year. Surprisingly far from camera shy, what on earth will she look like at ninety?
A marine residence with a history tied to the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy, the Special Operations Executive and Babycham
The House on the Shore on Thorns Beach at Beaulieu in Hampshire is a home that wouldn’t look out of place in the Hamptons or Rhode Island. Dramatically situated next to the Solent waters to the north of the Isle of Wight, this suitably named building wouldn’t have been out of place in the 1980s BBC series Howards’ Way. It could. Indeed, have been an ideal home for Gerald and Polly Urquhart. (more…)
She owns a controlling interest in the world’s third largest brewer and is married to the child star of Lawrence of Arabia, Michel de Carvalho. They live together in London with their five children, are said to be worth £5.5 billion but live “quite modestly.” Of meeting his wife, de Carvalho commented: “I met the girl of my dreams, complete with free beer. I didn’t realise then that marriage is not just about free beer.”
This Swiss born son of a printer has spent over £85 million buying up properties in the Henley-on-Thames area of Oxfordshire. Schwarzenbach also owns 123,000 acres in Australia, 26,000 acres in Scotland and has his own polo team, the Black Bears. This financier’s foreign exchange dealership, Interexchange, is the biggest in Switzerland and betting against the dollar has brought much success. He supposedly even named his Gulfstream G650 “George” as “ultimately it was Bush who paid for it.” Whilst Schwarzenbach’s Grand Hotel Dolder in Zurich wins plaudits galore. an investment in Mayfair’s Café Grand Prix was less successful. It is, however, for philanthropy and discretion that Schwarzenbach and his wife, a former Miss Australia, are known best.
