How Ben Dunne's fortune was divided out in his will

Businessman Ben Dunne left more than €30m in his will and cancelled €4m in loans provided to his son, it has been reported.

According to the Sunday Independent, the businessman who died while on holiday in Dubai last year, aged 74 removed any legal liability from his children for debts owed.

In his will, Mr Dunne stipulated that in the event of his death, his children Robert, Caroline and Nicholas would be released “from any legal liability to repay any debt which may be due from them”.

He also released his son Mark from debts of roughly €4m.

The “rest, residue and remainder” of his €30m estate “of every nature and kind” as well as “any property” was left to his wife, Mary.

It included Mr Dunne’s shares in the chain of gyms he founded and other businesses.

Dunne founded that chain in 1997 during what proved to be a tumultuous decade for the Cork-born businessman.

He was arrested for possession in Florida in 1992 before being forced out of Dunnes Stores and was later discovered to have made illegal payments to politicians, but the gym chain was a feather in his cap.

Prior to Covid, the company brought in annual revenues of €14m and profit of €3m.

The pandemic forced the closure of gyms for several months, with Dunne estimating losses at €5-6m but he would bounce back to profit with a more streamlined business after the pandemic.

Ben and his wife Mary, who were married for over 50 years, had since the economic crash in 2008 started to downsize.

He sold his yacht and helicopter, and the couple put 39 of their artworks, worth millions, up for auction, including paintings by John Lavery and Jack B Yeats.

“Anything that was costing money and wasting money I got rid of,” he said.

“The yacht and the helicopter went very quickly. All the people I know have taken a hit and I think it has done nobody any harm. It has done me no harm.”