IRA kidnap left Irish business mogul 'with severe PTSD'

Cork-born Ben Dunne — who died age 74 in November 2023 from a heart attack during a trip to Dubai — was director of Dunnes Stores, which was founded by this father Ben Snr in 1944.

Dunne was infamously fined $5,000 after being found in a hotel room in possession of cocaine and in the company of a prostitute in 1992, after which he underwent treatment in a rehab clinic.

His kidnapping by the IRA as part of a £1.5m ransom attempt in 1981 shocked the island of Ireland.

The business mogul was dragged from his car, abducted and held at gunpoint while on his way to open a new store in Co Down after stopping at what he believed was a car accident.

He was released after seven days and left in a graveyard in Cullyhanna, Co Armagh, after his friend, Patrick Gallagher, paid a brokered amount that has never been revealed.

Ben’s son Rob Dunne tells today’s Sunday Independent the shocking attack had left his father with severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“He became very jumpy. He became super-vigilant about his surroundings. He would want to sit in a certain area of a restaurant, for a vantage point,” he said.

“He would say, ‘I want that spot over there’. He wouldn’t go into why. He would be very wary, although he was always approachable and friendly. If a stranger came up, he would try to gauge the situation.

“I might have messed around or jumped out of a closet before, whereas after the kidnapping I wouldn’t, because I would scare the crap out of him and it was obviously extremely traumatic.”

Rob recalled being taken out of school in the days following the kidnapping and kept away from news reports on TV or in the papers.

He said: “My mum put it very simply and gently. She said, ‘Rob, Mark, some bad men took your dad for a few days and we were very worried, but we got him back and he is safe and sound’.

“The only thing his dad said to him — and imagine his son has been gone for six nights, held by terrorists — and his only sentence, is, ‘Benny, it’s all over now. Keep your head down. I’ll see you in the office in the morning’.

“I think my dad developed what we would now call PTSD and he needed counselling. We ended up having to regroup completely in terms of security measures,” said Rob. “Everything changed. We had full-time 24/7 security at our gate, very strange.”

"They would drive us places and pick us up. It was really odd, and I felt very self-conscious about it, particularly at secondary school.”