Jim Mansfield

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James (Jim) Mansfield is a wealthy Irish businessman, with a property portfolio including CityWest Hotel, several developments local to the Tallaght / Saggart areas, and Weston Airport.

1 Early life
2 Business Success
3 Other Interests
4 Family life
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life

Mr Mansfield started working at school-going age as a scrap merchant^{[citation needed]}, having grown up to a very working class background, in Brittas, South Dublin, and later amassed great wealth in his dealings with international firms and governments. Most notable of these dealings was with an agreement with the British government to salvage and process ex Falklands war machinery.

[edit] Business Success

Mansfield realised that land was going up in value in the Republic Of Ireland in the early 1990’s, and he successfully secure several thousand acres of land near Saggart, county Dublin, as well as other small pockets of land throughout Dublin. As property demands rose, so did the land value, and Mansfield successfully turned his land assets; much of which was purchased on borrowings, into huge profits. However, Mansfield was still dealing in his machinery trade, with assistant company directors taking the reins, which once again added to his wealth, amounting to over €415 million as of 31st March 2008 according to a recent Irish Independent Sunday article on the one hundred richest people in Ireland.

[edit] Other Interests

Mansfield owns Weston Airport, a small airfield to the south west of Dublin, which he bought in 2001 for an estimated €7million euro, since when he has sought to expand it, also extending a flight training facility. Criticism surrounding developments at the field, some without or in breach of planning rulings, and alleged drugs trafficking by third parties (on one occasion using one of his aircraft) and continuing battles with local planning authorities have resulted in Mansfield often gaining public image as a rogue of the property industry, despite the fact his several high profile firms have never been charged with a serious offence, or breach of regulation. More recently, the Mansfield family purchased Palmerstown House, near Johnstown, County Kildare, and set about turning the local parkland into a new golf course, PGA Ireland – Palmerstown House, which is ranked in the top twenty golf courses in the country according to Kildare Tourism.

[edit] Family life

Jim Mansfield is married with several children, two of whom fly regularly at Weston, and indeed with their father, in the family's several private aircraft, including a private jet and several multi-million euro helicopters. One of the most recent public events concerning the family was the marriage of Mansfield's son, PJ, to Andrea Roche, an Irish model, socialite and campaigner for different causes. Although never confirmed, family friends have always suggested that the Mansfields are kind to several charities and regularly make donations on a low key basis.