The builders

the long version

In the past fifteen years, Ireland has gone from being one of the poorest countries in the EU to one of the richest in the world. Of all the factors in this extraordinary transformation, none has been more prominent than the astonishing boom in construction. The transformation was created by a relatively small number of men, mostly from humble rural backgrounds. In The Builders, Frank McDonald and Kathy Sheridan tell the stories of these men, of the local and national governments that have helped them, and of the changes - physical and psychological - they have brought about. They also go behind the facades of these secretive men, explaining what drives them and what they do with their vast wealth. The story of Ireland's property developers has been the great untold story of the country's growth - until now.