Man about town: The story of Jay Bourke, one of the most influential players on the Dublin social scene for 25 years

The businessman is back in the news after ‘embarrassing’ footage emerged from the Berlin D2 bar in the capital at the weekend

Jay Bourke

Melanie Finn Twitter Email

August 17 2020 07:49 PM

Born into a background of privilege and wealth, entrepreneur Jay Bourke (54) always seemed destined to leave an impression.

Once hailed as Ireland’s answer to Alan Sugar, he’s been involved in a dizzying array of pubs, venues, restaurants and club events over the years. But few have stood the test of time.

A native of Dalkey, Jay, aka Jonathan Paget Bourke, was the son of a retired Dublin banker John Paget Bourke while his mother’s parents were German industrialists. His grandfather was a judge named Sir Paget John Bourke.

He attended private boarding school St Columba’s before going to TCD where he roomed with David McWilliams and studied Economics.

His striking looks landed him modelling jobs in New York - and he used the money he earned over there to help fund his first burger business.

Inside the Berlin Bar

His first foray into business pre-dated the halcyon Celtic Tiger days after he and another friend got a €61,500 bank loan and opened up Wolfman Jack’s burger joint in Rathmines in 1989. He was just 22.

Property prices were cheap at the time and the moment seemed ripe for new opportunities. He wasted little time in expanding and in 1993 he opened up The Globe, the nightclubs The Front Lounge, Gubu, Odessa, RíRá and Panti Bar, one of the first gay bars in Dublin.

The capital city was “desolate” back then and his venues made Georges Street a hub for the emerging late-night party scene.

“There was nothing for young people, really. Property was relatively cheap. We just came out of an interest-rate crisis... the timing couldn't have been better,” he said of the time.

In 1996, he enjoyed a society wedding to solicitor and writer Sarah Harte in Cork’s Dunkettle House. He pulled up to collect her from a work event in a speed boat outside Custom House Quay, drawing comparisons to James Bond.

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“He was kind of arrogant and quite full of himself, so I enjoyed taking him down a peg or two, conversationally,” she once said. They went on to have one son, Conn, while he has a daughter from a previous relationship.

He continued building up his empire, and in 1997 opened the iconic Eden restaurant in Temple Bar, quickly followed by the Market Bar, Café Bar Deli and Pygmalion. He also opened venues outside of Dublin.

His brash confidence and eye for an opportunity saw him build up an impressive portfolio of some of the capital’s top venues.

He claimed that at one time he was worth about €50m, but he insisted in one interview that he was not interested in money and wanted to create experiences.

In 2005, he was invited to help breathe new life into Bewley’s and open up his Café Bar Deli concept in the Grafton Street venue.

He also became a minor celebrity. In 2006 when he landed a presenter role as a business advisor on RTE’s show The Mentor.

He branched out into the hotel industry with Bellinter House, a boutique hotel in Meath which enjoyed a lavish €10m investment.

The first sign of trouble came in 2008 when his Sherland Entertainments Ltd settled with the Revenue for €160,000 in relation to under-declared VAT.

Bellinter House went into liquidation in 2010 and it was clear that the recession was starting to take a bite into his finances. He had begun selling many of his properties as the crash took its toll.

In 2011, a butcher and builder contacted Liveline claiming Bourke had not paid them as the sheen began to come off his polished exterior.

More litigation followed, including the pursuit of a €1m debt by ACC Bank and disputes with the Temple Bar Cultural Trust. The founder of O'Brien's Sandwich bars, Brody Sweeney, initiated legal action against him in 2012 over a food franchise business.

There was also an unfair dismissals case from chef Leanne McDowell which saw her being awarded €50,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

But his most headline-worthy fall from grace came in 2012 when Revenue decided to wind up Shebeen Chic Ltd, his George’s Street venue, due to a VAT liability of €105,000.

It had been accepted by Mr Bourke that books and records were not kept or provided, and there was also a failure to make annual returns.

In July 2017, he was disqualified by the High Court from acting as a company director for seven years. The court heard how he had continued to trade for some two years after he knew the operating company was insolvent. At the time of the judgment, he was a director of 14 different companies and was given two weeks to resign those positions.

Now he is back in the headlines for defending the footage which emerged from a Dublin bar which was branded as “reckless” by acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn.

Footage circulating on social media shows a barman standing on the bar at Berlin D2 and pouring alcohol into the mouths of dancing punters.

“I was appalled at the video, very unhappy indeed. Embarrassed, actually,” he said.

He said he interviewed staff and reviewed CCTV footage of the four-hour event yesterday.

“In fact, when you look at the CCTV footage, the whole premises was pretty well controlled. That footage does not reflect what went on that day at all. It looks terrible, but it ain’t that terrible.”

He said that it was a “very controlled environment”.

“I’m not excusing that video or what that particular barman did, but I have to be objective about my own position as an operator and say, ‘what did we do wrong?’ and how we’re never going to let that happen again.”

He also revealed that he had insights into the misery the virus can cause because he himself had caught Covid-19 in recent months.

"I understand Covid because I had it and I don't want anyone to get it,” he added.