It was a morning in May 2011, and I was in the car park of a pub in Clonskeagh. I am waiting for a low-profile businessman who, prior to the financial crash, had once ranked as one of Ireland’ biggest developers and one of the state’s richest citizens. A five-year-old BMW pulled in and I got out of my car to approach it. The electric window rolled down and a man looked out. “What are you looking at?” he said. I turned away realising it wasn’t the man I hoped to meet. As I retreated, a beat-up white van flashed…

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