Jim Mansfield
Encyclopedia
James Mansfield is an Irish businessman, with a property portfolio that included the Citywest Hotel and Resort, several developments local to the Tallaght
Tallaght
Tallaght is the largest town, and county town, of South Dublin County, Ireland. The village area, dating from at least the 17th century, held one of the earliest settlements known in the southern part of the island, and one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres.Up to the 1960s...

 and Saggart
Saggart
Saggart is a suburban village in South Dublin County, Ireland, south west of Dublin city. It lies between the N7 , Rathcoole, and Tallaght.-Name:A monk called Mosacra founded a settlement on the site of the village in the 7th century...

 areas, and Weston Airport
Weston Airport
Weston Airport or Aerfort Weston in Irish, is a publicly licensed executive airport located on the R403 regional road at Leixlip, County Kildare west of Dublin, in Ireland...

.

Mansfield had been involved in high profile disputes over planning permission for his developments.

In 2011 Mansfield's companies' debts could not be serviced, and his commercial properties passed to the National Asset Management Agency
National Asset Management Agency
The National Asset Management Agency is a body created by the Government of Ireland in late 2009. It is in response to the Irish financial crisis and the deflation of the Irish property bubble....

.

Early life

Mansfield was born in on April 9, 1939 and grew up in Brittas
Brittas
Brittas may refer to*Brittas, Dublin a village in South County Dublin, Ireland*Brittas Bay, a seaside resort in County Wicklow, Ireland*The Brittas Empire, a British sitcom...

, South Dublin
South Dublin
South Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. The county seat is Tallaght, the largest suburb of Dublin and the biggest urban centre in the county. Other important centres of population are Lucan and Clondalkin...

.
Mansfield left school, initially buying a lorry and working in the haulage business, then later renting or selling lorries to contractors.
Mansfield made his fortune selling machinery left over from the Falklands war.
It was from this industry that Mansfield grew his business empire to include the Mansfield Group and HSS Ltd.

Business career

The businessman's assets grew in the 1980s, according to a 2003 report in the Sunday Business Post, when he sold 100,000 tonnes of machinery, including some 1,100 earth-movers, which had been left over from the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina, for an estimated STG100 million.

Mansfield realised that land was going up in value in Ireland in the early 1990s, and he successfully secured several thousand acres near Saggart, County Dublin, as well as other small pockets of land throughout Dublin. As property demand rose, so did the land value, and Mansfield successfully turned over his land assets. Mansfield Citywest Hotel from scratch and established as the venue for the Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

 ardfheis (annual meeting) and host for GAA functions.
Mansfield continued dealing in his machinery trade which once again added to his wealth, amounting to a reputed €200 million as of a February 21, 2010 report in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times.

Other interests

In 2000 Mansfield purchased the Weston aerodrome in 2000, for €13 million, an airfield to the south west of Dublin. He expanded the airfield to include a flight training facility but without full planning permission. In 2005 he applied in 2005.

In 1999 Mansfield bought Palmerstown House estate, near Johnstown, County Kildare, from American millionairess Anne Moen Bullitt for IR£10million (€12.7million). He established the property as a golf course, Palmerstown Golf Club.

Personal life

Jim Mansfield is married with three sons, Tony, Jimmy and PJ. Two of whom fly regularly at Weston, in the family's private aircrafts, including a private jet and helicopters. The airport was once the subject of much controversy as it was the subject of drug-enforcement attention investigating the flying in of large amounts of heroin for public consumption.
In 2006 Mansfield's son, PJ, married Andrea Roche
Andrea Roche
Andrea Roche is an award-winning Irish model, socialite and occasional television personality. She took part in the RTÉ One reality sports television series Celebrity Bainisteoir in 2009 and features on a weekly basis on the TV3 show Ireland AM...

, an Irish model and socialite.
The marriage ended in 2010 after alleged extra-marital affairs on both sides.

External links

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