Born into poverty in the Summerhill area of Dublin in the 1940s, Bill Cullen was the fifth of fourteen children, seven boys and seven girls.
Cullen was born in a caul (the membrane surrounding the amniotic fluid) which is considered a good luck omen within Irish folklore.
[1][2] His father Billy was in the Irish Army Reserve and was for the most part unemployed, or working on the dock and getting labour that was not much for the Cullen family.
[3] He finished his education with the Christian Brothers at the age of thirteen to work on the markets full-time, selling fruit, vegetables and other items.
[8] In April 2006 he was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by decree of the President of the French Republic for both his work with Renault Ireland and for his humanitarian efforts.
Cullen was said to be "very sad" at the appointment of receivers to his businesses Glencullen Holdings, which operates dealerships in Swords and Liffey Valley.
With the assistance of Robert "Hino" Harris, Bill Cullen in 2014 became the Dublin area dealer for SsangYong Motor Company.
[16] Cullen was booked to be one of the first passengers to take a flight into space on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic service at a cost of €250,000.
[18] Cullen regularly appears in the Irish media and is considered a minor celebrity, appearing on television shows, such as The Late Late Show, Tubridy Tonight and The Restaurant on RTÉ[19][20] He is often parodied by Tom Dunne on the Today FM Gift Grub comedy segment.
[2] Cullen released his autobiography entitled It's a Long Way from Penny Apples[22] in 2002 detailing his life growing up in inner city Dublin and rising to become one of Ireland's most successful business people.
[33] In response, the party's finance spokesperson, Dan Boyle, called the claims "hysterical and widely inaccurate".
[34] He was also one of a number of high-profile members along with Packie Bonner and Mick Galwey of the group 'We Belong' who campaigned for a yes vote in the second Irish constitutional referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.