It began over a coffee in the Merrion Hotel. It was six years ago, and the Scottish financier Alan McIntosh was looking for an experienced builder to help him meet the huge demand he could see for housing in Ireland post its 2008 economic crash. On the other side of the coffee table was Irish builder Michael Stanley. Along with his brother Kevin, Michael Stanley had grown up among housebuilders and they were itching to get going again. “Alan saw the opportunity at the same time,” Michael Stanley recalled in a 2017 interview. Ireland needed tens of thousands of homes…

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